“The time of Morocco”, new work by Abdelmalek Alaoui

“The time of Morocco: 2020-2021, resilience and emergence of the Shereefian Kingdom” is the title of a new work by Abdelmalek Alaoui, which has just been published by La Croisée des Chemins editions.

The 355-page book illustrates the major steps taken by the Kingdom in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. Months of concern that challenged the established world order and during which superstitions rivaled rationalism and the necessary rigor of science and medicine.

According to the author, this documented work of the response against the virus, was written day by day as the Shereefian Kingdom and its Sovereign, King Mohammed VI, implemented a set of decisive measures for the country. For the author, it is always interesting to look behind you to understand the contemporary world. This is how 500 days of history have brought humanity into the grips of the pandemic, revealing deep economic, social and environmental fault lines. Through this work, Mr. Alaoui reveals an unknown and unpublished portrait of the Kingdom, a thousand-year-old nation-state, the oldest reigning monarchy in the world and of its King, captain in the storm, whose decisions will prove to be decisive.

The author who quotes the German philosopher Hegel, “Man builds History at the same time as universal history shapes man”, questions the place of the leader in the face of the history of his country, particularly during the pandemic which was, from the outset, taken very seriously by King Mohammed VI. The Sovereign was also able to take advantage of the crisis to continue to modernize the Kingdom, a task he was willing to assume upon his arrival on the Throne, specifies Mr. Alaoui in his book, adding that on the international level , Morocco has proved that it was “neither a second division nation nor an emerging African, just useful to the great powers to supply them with market goods”. It was sometimes funny to see how European journalists slipped in surprised comments when they saw Morocco’s firmness in controlling its borders and limiting its air traffic, the country’s agility in its race for the vaccine, its opportunism to intelligently consolidate its financial situation, ”observes the author.

Abdelmalek Alaoui is the author of numerous books including “Le Temps du Continent” which in 2018 won the Turgot prize for the French-speaking economics book of the year. He heads the Guépard group and chairs the Think-Tank Institut Marocain d’Intelligence Stratégique (IMIS).