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Morocco’s Military under Mohamed VI (1999-Present)

King Hassan II died at the end of July 1999 and was succeeded without incident by his intended heir, Sidi Mohamed, who took the throne as Mohamed VI. The new king, called al-malik al-karim, or “the merciful king,” or, less formally, “M-6,” immediately began to make a number of long-needed changes. These included replacing many top officials in the Interior Ministry and initiating major economic programs for depressed areas of the country. Over the next several years, Mohamed VI busied himself with efforts to make the government more representative and responsive, to modernize Morocco’s economy and society, and to remedy long-standing neglect of many parts of the country.

The new king soon encountered challenges to his agenda. Although corrupt and inefficient officials were replaced, the long-standing bureaucratic culture proved more difficult to change. Expectations by the Moroccan public, which were high in the first years of the new king’s reign, have changed with the slowdown in reforms. Regardless, significant progress was made in modernizing Morocco’s economy and society, particularly in the north (Tangier, Tetouan, and the Rif region), an area long-neglected under Mohamed VI’s predecessor. The king oversaw projects to provide new industry and employment opportunities to this region, which had under Hassan II become one of the world’s major hashish producers and exporters. Economic development and stimulus programs were undertaken in other areas of the kingdom as well, including the High and Middle Atlas, some of Morocco’s poorest regions were also marked by high unemployment.

Reforms have been popularly acclaimed and welcomed. The reforms so far have been significant in some areas, but Moroccans’ general impression is that more should be done, and soon.

The 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States were widely reported and viewed on Moroccan radio and television. Mohamed VI has been a strong supporter of the worldwide effort to fight terrorism and has ensured that Morocco supports U.S. regional counterterrorism initiatives. Morocco has also been targeted by radical Islamic terrorists, who bombed sites in Casablanca (May 2003), and the radical Islamist presence in Morocco has grown significantly.

Mohamed VI has so far made relatively few major changes to the structure of the FAR, although he had been steadily naming new officers to replace long-time loyalists of his father upon their retirement. Rather than major, potentially disruptive changes, the king continued to focus on incremental changes that are likely to have a long-term, cumulative impact. Thus, military culture would evolve as his tenure in power lengthened and the king’s appointees implement new policies. Efforts continue to improve the quality of training, support, and administrative accountability for the military. In terms of foreign military policy, Mohamed VI continued, and improved where possible, military relations with African, Middle Eastern, and Western nations. The FAR continued to support international peacekeeping in Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.