| Andre Azoulay has been
Conseiller to His Majesty (HM), the King of Morocco,
since 1991. As the Personal Adviser to two successive
reigning monarchs, he is the power behind the throne,
arguably the most influential man in the Kingdom.
The current ruler, HM King Mohammed VI, as well as
HM King Hassan II, the former ruler and father to
the reigning sovereign, have been the beneficiaries
of his wise counsel. When Mr. Azoulay tells a visitor
that the Kingdom of Morocco stands out in the region
as a land of religious tolerance, he backs this up
by proudly emphasizing that his very life is part
of a flourishing Jewish community in Morocco that
has enjoyed more than 2,000 years of unbroken history.
HM King Mohammed VI’s goal for the Kingdom is
to take what is a very old country with an antiquated
political patronage and tribal system and, based on
the historical contributions of his ancestors, institute
structural and societal reforms that will push Morocco
into the 21st century.
According to Mr. Azoulay, the people of Morocco are
rapidly becoming a part of the modern world, while
remaining fiercely proud of who they are and of their
tribal and ethnic roots. At the same time, His Majesty
is determined to make Morocco a major player in international
business while maintaining and strengthening its leadership
in the southern Mediterranean region, the Arab world,
and on the African continent.
Mr. Azoulay stressed that His Majesty’s chief
goal is to vigorously address the needs of the common
man in Morocco, by encouraging the economic development
and investment that will create the jobs desperately
needed by the population. Other core goals of His
Majesty’s development plan for the Kingdom include
access to affordable housing and healthcare, universal
education for both boys and girls, and equal treatment
of women.
The political stability provided by HM King Mohammed
VI, and, in the century before, by his father, HM
King Hassan II, and his grandfather, HM King Mohammed
V, is a rarity in this volatile part of the world.
Mr. Azoulay added that the birth of Crown Prince Moulay
Al-Hassan on May 8th of this year will ensure many
more decades of political continuity. From this base,
the ambitious development initiatives of His Majesty
are being launched.
As HM King Mohammed VI sets out the tasks for his
Ministers and for the private sector that will put
his plans into action, the King is using his clear
vision of the evolution of democracy in the Kingdom
as the structural and spiritual foundation on which
to base the necessary but difficult societal reforms.
The history of friendship between the Kingdom of Morocco
and the United States of America goes back over two
centuries, to the earliest days of the American Republic.
Mr. Azoulay stressed that Moroccans and Americans
share the same core values and a common vision for
the future. With no differences or problems between
the two nations, both are, in fact, building the same
future, with one side’s success shared by the
other, and one’s failure the other’s as
well. The Moroccan-American relationship is not based
solely on geostrategic considerations, Mr. Azoulay
emphasized, but, much more importantly, on a shared
vision of what the world can be.
While Morocco is constructing a political system based
on a heritage and a national vision that are specifically
Moroccan, His Majesty is using as its basic ingredients
the same ideals and notions of freedom and dignity
that are shared equally by the people of Washington,
DC and Rabat, and of New York City and Casablanca.
Morocco may be an African nation firmly anchored in
the Arab world, but it fiercely shares converging
values and ideals with the people of the United States.
Concluding an enlightening hour of discourse, Mr.
Azoulay stated, “The people of Morocco and the
United States share a common destiny for the best
and for the worst, and we will be together side by
side, into history.” |
