Tabboun and the new bloc… An idea presented to counter Moroccan diplomatic aggressiveness
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Taboun has considered the option of creating a regional organization in North Africa, similar to other emerging organizations in West and East Africa.
Political analyst Bilal Taledi believes: “Nothing so far shows the seriousness of this option nor the consensus of the parties supposed to adhere to it. All indications are only meetings, notably the one held on the sidelines of the seventh gas summit held in Algeria, in the presence of Tunisian President, Kaïs Saïed, and the head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohammed al-Manfi, where it was agreed to hold meetings every three months, the first to take place in Tunisia after the month of Ramadan. »
Taledi noted that “Mauritania, on which Algeria was counting to be a founding member of this new regional political structure, did not participate in this meeting and preferred to stay away from any initiative that could be interpreted as aimed at isolating Morocco from its regional environment and gently removing it from the Arab Maghreb Union. »
In reality, this initiative was not new for Algerian diplomacy, it had been presented in the context of the confrontation with Moroccan diplomatic aggressiveness in recent years. Algeria has already mentioned on several occasions the idea of an Arab Maghreb without Morocco, but has failed to realize this idea and convince the parties concerned. On the other hand, Morocco managed to involve a number of countries in the southern region, bordering Algeria, in the Atlantic Initiative after the dispute between Algeria and Niger, then between Algeria and Niger. Mali, broke out, and Chad also joined the initiative. Mauritania is also engaged in an in-depth dialogue with Rabat on this initiative which continues to this day, with the involvement of other international powers to convince Nouakchott to join and promote its role in the region at all levels. security, military, economic and development. »
Taledi concludes by saying: “It is difficult to evaluate this initiative because its conditions are not yet met, there is no clarity on this subject for the parties concerned, the only party having announced its content and its objectives is Algeria, while Tunisia and Tripoli have not made any statement on this subject, so we must wait for the first meeting after Ramadan in Tunisia to complete the picture and show the seriousness of the initiative, and highlight the position of Tunisia, since the meeting will be held there. What makes it limited in its ambitions is that it has failed to include Mauritania, making the isolation of Morocco and its exclusion from the new Arab Maghreb Union an unlikely option. »
