PRESENTATION
Assertive Morocco and cross-Strait connectivity
Over the past year, the waters of the Strait have been particularly choppy. The outgoing Trump administration's endorsement of Morocco's claims over Western Sahara, in exchange for rapprochement with Israel, has led Rabat to try to capitalise on the momentum. An assertive Morocco has pressured Spain to also move in the desired direction, in ways that have generated unease in Spanish society and politics. The crisis has made Spain experience the need for a strategic awareness that competes with that of its neighbouring country, sample . The realisation that Mohammed VI carefully calculates his movements, following interests that he considers national, gives Madrid room to be more explicit in doing the same. Both visions, in any case, envisage ample room for cooperation, and connectivity through the Strait of Gibraltar is presented as a clear advantage for both shores.
With this issue, Global Affairs Journal aims to contribute to raising Spain's strategic awareness of Morocco and its Maghreb neighbours, while highlighting those geopolitical objectives that Rabat perceives as imperative. Morocco's relations with its regional neighbours, the thorny issue of Western Sahara and Spain's interests in Algeria and Libya, as well as the prospects for trans-Mediterranean synergies, especially in subject energy and transport, which can encourage Spanish-Moroccan cooperation, complete this monograph.
Emili J. Blasco, director of the Center for Global Affairs & Strategic Studies
