Morocco: The Islamist Awakening and Other Challenges

Overview

Morocco--the very word connotes mystery, opulence, and escape. Marvine Howe, a former correspondent for The New York Times , takes us behind Morocco's exotic facade to discover the largely tolerant Muslim country, struggling to catch up with modern times and cope with the penetration of political Islam sweeping the world.

Strategically located at the western gateway to the Mediterranean, Morocco appears to be a bastion of stability and openness in a troubled continent. While enjoying close economic ties with the European Union and the United States, the country has preserved spiritual and political ties with the Muslim world. For this reason it has been caught up in the current civilizational conflict.

Morocco's 1,200-year-old monarchy has served as the principal unifying force of the nation and the symbol of struggle against foreign domination, the far left, and, more recently, Islamic extremism. The late King Hassan, whom Howe knew personally, lay the foundations of a modern, pro-Western state. These achievements, however, came at a high cost, the systematic violation of human rights, the spread of corruption, and the evisceration of forces seeking reform.

King Mohammed VI, who succeeded his father in 1999, has distanced himself from Hassan's harsh rule, releasing political prisoners, providing compensation for "missing" persons, overseeing relatively transparent elections and allowing a generally free press. With this relaxation, King Mohammed has come under new pressures to transform the autocratic monarchy into a full-fledged democracy. Howe also addresses the emerging problems of equal rights for women, recognition of the original Berber language, the elimination of corruption, and correction of glaring economic and social disparities.

The main challenge to the monarchy comes from the growing Islamist movement, Islamic moderates who made major gains in recent elections, and pockets of violent zealots suspected of ties to Al Qaeda. Howe discusses the reasons for the Islamist surge and addresses the fundamental question: can this ancient Muslim kingdom embrace western democracy in an era of deepening divisions between the Islamic world and the West?

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Author Information

Bio of Marvine Howe

Marvine Howe , who has reported for The New York Times from Africa, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and the Balkans, began her career as a free-lance journalist in North Africa. Her first book The Prince and I was about the Moroccan independence movement. Her latest book was Turkey Today: A Nation Divided over Islam's Revival . She lives in Lexington, Virginia, works out of Oeiras, Portugal, and travels frequently in the Islamic world.

Bio of John C. Avise

John C. Avise is Professor of Genetics at the University of Georgia and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1994 he served as President of the Society for the Study of Evolution.

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Additional Info

Imprint

Oxford University Press, Incorporated

Filesize

10.98 MB

Number of Pages

448

eBook ISBN

9780195346985