Kaine’s Trip to Morocco Adds Strength to an Old Alliance

After Israel and Dubai, Gov. Tim Kaine and First Lady Anne Holton visited Rabat, Morocco, as guests of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.

This was a historic visit by the governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia to a country in North Africa that played an important role early in our history, when -- as a brand new, independent United States of America -- we had a few friends and countless enemies.

Barely a year after the inauguration of George Washington, Sultan Sidi Muhammad Ben Abdullah of Morocco issued a royal declaration on Dec. 20, 1777 granting all vessels sailing under the American flag the right to freely enter all Moroccan ports. The sultan's declaration was recognition of the sovereignty and independence of the new American republic.

The sultan's unsolicited initiative granted to the Americans ports privileges he reserved for the major trading powers of the time. The sultan's declaration was the core of the Treaty of Marrakech between the two nations, signed by ministers Thomas Jefferson and John Adams and ratified by Congress in 1787.

Thus started America's oldest and only uninterrupted diplomatic relationship and one of its most enduring friendships. In 1821, Sultan Suliman re-affirmed his kingdom's commitment to a special friendship with America. The sultan wrote the American consul general, John Mullowny, that "the Americans mean more to me than any other nation, and whatever footing the most favored nation is on, they are to be favored more than any other."

In 1942, as America was engaged in WWII and North Africa was looming as a major a theater, King Mohammed V assured President Roosevelt and Gen. George Patton that America will find in Morocco "only friends and collaborators."

The royal pledge still stands. In June 2002, The New York Times reported the "unusual cooperation" that King Mohammed VI promised the United Sates in its fight against international terrorism. Subsequent published reports detailed Morocco's critical assistance in the dismantling of al-Qaida's networks in Europe and North Africa.

"The Moroccans have asked for nothing," a Western diplomat told The Washington Post, "Nothing. They made a decision to cooperate and they stuck to it."

In recent years, relations between the two countries reached higher and privileged levels of coordination and expanded to significant areas of cooperation. In 2004, the Bush administration declared Morocco a Non-NATO Strategic Ally of the United States. In 2005, the two countries signed a groundbreaking free trade agreement. In July 2008, The Millennium Challenge Corporation in Morocco began implementation of one of its largest development programs ($700 million) in the world.

For close to 10 years, Morocco has embarked on a very ambitious program of economic development, institutional reform, political liberalization, major infrastructure and capital spending, and human and social development investment.

Personal status laws were amended and women were given more equality under the law. A national truth and reconciliation commission was established to investigate the crimes of the past and to come to terms with the legacies of 38 years of abuse of power. A royal advisory council on human rights was established to implement the recommendations of the commission, to disseminate and strengthen the culture of human rights, and to make sure that the abuse of the past may never happen again!

Morocco's transformation under King Mohamed VI is visible and undeniable. It is visible in the massive construction projects that populate the country from Tangier in the North to Dakhla in the South. It is visible in the vast infrastructure and capital investment projects that the country has accomplished in the past few years: a world-class interstate system linking all of the country, a state-of-the-art major regional port in the North, TangerMed, and a multi-billion dollar project for a high-speed train system.

This transformation is undeniable because Morocco continues to enjoy political stability in a region pregnant with conflict. Moreover, Morocco has become a major destination for international investors, especially from the Gulf and the European Union -- with some $20 billion in foreign direct investments since 2004. And despite the current downturn in the world economy, the kingdom's determination to modernize, liberalize, and democratize has neither faded nor diminished.

This is a pretty good narrative for an Arab-Muslim country in Africa. And it is not the one the media usually report about from the Middle East or Africa. Morocco under Mohamed VI is a regular country with an extraordinary story of change, progress, and transformation.

Gov. Kaine's visit to Morocco built on this unique history and is adding new meaning to the special relationship between the kingdom and Virginia. Morocco is already the third-largest importer of Virginia's agricultural products.

The existing free trade agreement between the United States and Morocco should be used to encourage more trade diversification, more cooperation, and more exchange of goods and services in education, medicine, and high technology -- fields in which Virginia is proud to be a world leader.

Kaine's visit to Morocco, after trips to Israel and Dubai, is a significant indicator that things are changing in the new Middle East. In the three countries, the governor and his hosts focused on trade, the economy, and job-creation. Those are his concerns in Virginia and those are the concerns and priorities of the governments of Morocco, Dubai, and Israel.

During this historic visit to Morocco, regional conflicts and the politics of hate so associated with the Middle East were conspicuously absent. And they ought to be! They are replaced by an informed pragmatism and a clear determination of the king of Morocco to move his country forward to a peaceful, prosperous future through free trade and an open partnership with Virginia and the United Sates. In doing so, King Mohammed VI is keeping the traditions of his royal ancestors who considered their American friends "favored more than any other."

Ali O. Amar is vice president of ND-PC (New Dominion Political Action Committee), which gives a voice for the American-Arab community of Virginia, and works to expand its presence and participation in the political process at all levels. The group also strives to build and promote strong, beneficial, and lasting relations between Virginia and the Middle East. Contact him at .