The Best Is Possible: Modern Morocco Viewed Through the Lens of King Mohammed VI’s Speeches (1999–2019)

By Desmond Swan

“A compact, well-written and well-researched book. I am sure it will be welcomed as a valuable contribution to the history of contemporary Morocco and the remarkable process of transition it is undergoing as we speak.”

PROF. KARIM BEJJIT, UNIVERSITY ABDELMALEK ESSADI, TETOUAN, MOROCCO

   

“Morocco has been experiencing major socio-economic transformation from an agricultural to an industrial economy… and His Majesty has been to the fore in these hugely significant developments. The authors paint a wonderful picture in this highly recommended book.”       

CHARLES FLANAGAN, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE (2014–2017)

MINISTER FOR JUSTICE (2017–2020)

CURRENT CHAIR OF PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE (IRISH PARLIAMENT)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Mar 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9781398464124

Desmond Swan

Touria Jouilla McKee, originally from the city of Azou, Morocco, is a Moroccan-Irish national. She is a former teacher, teacher trainer, professional development specialist and academic manager. She was a lecturer in the Further Education (FE) sector in the UK between 2005 and 2009. She has extensive experience in Community and Further Education, language education pedagogy, language analysis and curriculum and materials design. She has published a number of articles on English language teaching and materials design in Ireland, where she now lives with her Irish husband. Touria works in ETBI (Education Training Boards Ireland) as a quality and policy officer and is a PhD candidate with the University of Aberdeen. She is currently researching “Access to Education in Irish Further Education and Training through the lens of Bourdieu’s habitus-field theory”. As a native Moroccan, Touria witnessed, first-hand, many of the major reforms the kingdom of Morocco has undergone since 1999 and offered personal insights in researching content for this book. Emeritus Professor Dr Desmond Swan was Professor of Education at University College Dublin from 1975 to 1998. He has published, edited, or contributed to ten books (on education, psychology, reading, literary criticism, poetry and German language) in Ireland, the UK, Germany and Georgia. He has written numerous articles in Irish, British, Dutch, and EU Journals, and contributed to a dictionary of psychology and a dictionary of reading. He holds an award (from the International Reading Association, Delaware, USA) for pioneering research in psychology. While at UCD he “transformed” the Education Department (as Head), establishing five new postgraduate programmes in Education. He has carried out commissioned research for SADCC (the Southern African Development Cooperation Council), ISERP (The International School Effectiveness Research Project), the International Montessori Association, the Government of Ireland, the Educational Company of Ireland, The European Union, The Open University, etc. He has been Extern Examiner/Visiting Professor at fourteen universities in Ireland, Britain, Germany, the USA, and Zambia.

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Desmond Swan and Touria Jouilla McKee 2023

The right of Desmond Swan and Touria Jouilla McKee to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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ISBN 9781398464100 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781035832347 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781398464124 (ePub e-book)

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Cover designed by Miss Claire Notelaers, web communication consultant.

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About the Authors

Touria Jouilla McKee, originally from the city of Azrou, Morocco, is a Moroccan-Irish national. She is a former teacher, teacher trainer, professional development specialist and academic manager. She was a lecturer in the Further Education (FE) sector in the UK between 2005 and 2009. She has extensive experience in Community and Further Education, language education pedagogy, language analysis and curriculum and materials design. She has published a number of articles on English language teaching and materials design in Ireland, where she now lives with her Irish husband.

Touria works in ETBI (Education Training Boards Ireland) as a quality and policy officer and is a PhD candidate with the University of Aberdeen. She is currently researching Access to Education in Irish Further Education and Training through the lens of Bourdieu’s habitus-field theory.

As a native Moroccan, Touria witnessed, first-hand, many of the major reforms the kingdom of Morocco has undergone since 1999 and offered personal insights in researching content for this book.

Emeritus Professor Dr Desmond Swan was Professor of Education at University College Dublin from 1975 to 1998. He has published, edited, or contributed to ten books (on education, psychology, reading, literary criticism, poetry and German language) in Ireland, the UK, Germany and Georgia. He has written numerous articles in Irish, British, Dutch, and EU Journals, and contributed to a dictionary of psychology and a dictionary of reading. He holds an award (from the International Reading Association, Delaware, USA) for pioneering research in psychology. While at UCD he transformed the Education Department (as Head), establishing five new postgraduate programmes in Education. He has carried out commissioned research for SADCC (the Southern African Development Cooperation Council), ISERP (The International School Effectiveness Research Project), the International Montessori Association, the Government of Ireland, the Educational Company of Ireland, The European Union, The Open University, etc. He has been Extern Examiner/Visiting Professor at fourteen universities in Ireland, Britain, Germany, the USA, and Zambia.

Acknowledgements

We are greatly indebted to His Excellency, Lahcen Mahraoui, Ambassador of Morocco to Ireland for supporting this project, especially by supplying essential documentation. We also wish to extend our deep gratitude to the Hassan II Foundation and the CCME, le Conseil de la Communauté Marocaine à l’Étranger, whose support, along with that of others, made this book possible.

Very special thanks to Mr Charles Flanagan, TD, former Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Minister for Justice (2017–2020), and current Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence (Irish Parliament), for writing the foreword for this book and for his enthusiasm and encouraging words.

Particular thanks are due to Professor Karim Bejjit, Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, University Abdelmalek Essaadi, Tetouan, Morocco. Although he read our manuscript and made helpful comments on it, we, the authors, accept full responsibility for its contents. We deeply appreciate the advice of Thelma Doran, former Ambassador of Ireland to China. Special thanks to Claire Notelaers for designing the cover for this book, and to artist Abdelhaq Abbadi for dedicating a painting to this book and depicting a unique illustration of the cover design.

We are also most grateful for help received from Mary Swan and Daniel McKee.

Note from the Authors

Our cover design shows two main images. The upper panel shows the magnificent loggia of the world’s oldest and still functioning university, that of Al-Qarawiyyin, established in the city of Fez, in Morocco, in 859 AD. The lower image shows the iconic solar panel plant in Ouarzazat Province, opened by His Majesty, King Mohammed VI in 2016. It incorporates a star shaped emblem of Morocco and is currently the largest concentrated solar panel plant in the world.

Between the panels are the shaded images, in Arabic script, of the Arabic numerals 0 to 9. It was Herbert of Aurillac, an alumnus of the university of Al Qarawiyyin, later to become Pope Sylvester II, who passed these Arabic numerals on to Europe and the world. They would eventually replace the cumbersome Roman numerals and constitute a gift from Morocco to mathematics, science and human progress, a fact that tends to be overlooked in Europe and Western countries generally.

Foreword

I am delighted to present this fascinating piece of work by Touria Jouilla McKee and Professor Desmond Swan. Touria, a native of Morocco, ably captures the optimistic and dynamic mood of the state while Desmond, an internationally renowned educationalist with his many writing awards, places the spotlight firmly and objectively on modern Morocco. Skilfully the authors chart the momentous avenue of change and reform in Morocco in the early years of this century through the thoughts and speeches of His Majesty, King Mohammed VI.

Morocco has been experiencing major socio-economic transformation from an agricultural to an industrial economy, striving towards a knowledge-based economy, and His Majesty is to the fore in these hugely significant developments. At a very early stage in the book the reader is treated to the towering and hugely influential figure of His Majesty and his ambitious goal of placing education at the centre of his endeavours by targeting less advantaged groups and making education accessible to all. The King cites education as a basic Human Right, targeting illiteracy and establishing a new school system based on fairness, equality, personal advancement and community development while acting as a gateway along the journey towards equality and sustainable development.

Morocco is justifiably painted by Touria and Desmond as a charming country full of rich cultural characteristics and qualities. The authors are well equipped with their uniquely Irish experience to draw on earlier historical works pointing to a unified cultural archipelago stretching from North Africa to Ireland and beyond inhabited by people of the Atlantic seaways known as Atlanteans.

The authors do a fine service to recent extraordinary and positive developments in Morocco and readily acknowledge the most positive bilateral relations between Ireland and Morocco, both countries enjoying much in common in our political, economic and social history, as well as rich tradition in music, song, and dance. I express my thanks and appreciation to the authors for their exploration of the many themes in the development of the Kingdom of Morocco, ultimately painting a wonderful picture that is this highly recommended book.

This publication merely whets the appetite for a further intensification of already excellent and wholly positive relations between Morocco and Ireland acknowledging the importance of fully accredited resident diplomatic missions between our respective countries in Dublin under Ambassador, Head of Mission, His Excellency Lahcen Mahraoui and in Rabat under His Excellency James McIntyre, Ambassador of Ireland to Morocco, and their respective teams. I know the reader will really enjoy this fine and timely publication.

Charles Flanagan, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (2014–2017)

Minister for Justice (2017–2020)

Current Chair of Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence (Irish Parliament)

‘This book will be welcomed as a valuable contribution to the history of contemporary Morocco and the remarkable process of transition it is undergoing.’

Professor Karim Bejjit, Department of English Language

and Literature, Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences,

University Abdelmalek Essaadi,

Tetouan, Morocco.

Introduction

The aim of this book is to present the reader with a portrait of Morocco today and its development over the course of the past two decades, as this is reflected in the many speeches of HM (His Majesty) King Mohammed VI, who, since his accession to the throne in 1999, has carried the hopes of his people with him. It is important to note that these speeches are of far more than ceremonial significance. They are visionary, as well as proactive and reactive. Together they constitute both a powerhouse of new ideas and a running commentary, as they set forth policies and priorities, moral stances and expectations and even occasional royal disappointments with tardy policy implementation. The speeches constitute a self-contained source and a set of historically important documents in their own right, sufficient to open a window to the outside world on modern Morocco, not through the words of an outside commentator, but those of an insider who has been a main actor in these events himself, thus providing an historically unique perspective. It was the uniqueness of this perspective that led to our decision to limit our focus essentially to them. This book therefore deals with reality as well as aspiration and vision, and sometimes the discrepancy between them.

This book also paints the transformational journey of the Crown Prince Sidi Mohammed, whose political involvement in his country had given little indication of the type of monarch he would be. The Crown Prince, before ascending the throne, was inconspicuous; outside of his royal duties, he had not been widely accessible to the media, with only a handful of interviews given to media outlets. Key events in Morocco in 1999, as we come to learn in chapter one, would be paradigm-shifting, when he emerges as King. The remarkable changes that ensued would show him to be a reformer with a unique, modern leadership style that was embraced by