| “Just as all Americans
know there are differences between our various states,
so they must also know that all Arab countries are
not alike.” So replied U.S. Ambassador to Morocco,
Margaret Tutwiler when asked what every citizen of
the United States must know about the Kingdom. She
emphasized that Morocco has had “centuries of
a close political relationship with the United States.”
The two nations share a proud military and diplomatic
history dating from the American Revolutionary War
period.
While previous United States Ambassadors to Morocco
have often been put to the test, during Ambassador
Tutwiler’s watch as the top American official
in Morocco, the world has seen the horrors of September
11 and the subsequent global war on Islamist terror,
the continuation of the second Palestinian Intifada,
the war in Afghanistan, the buildup to and war with
Iraq, and most recently, the Casablanca terror attacks.
Far from giving her pause, this endless series of
events has been taken as a challenge by the Ambassador
and have only made her more committed to strengthening
the Moroccan-American relationship. For all of these
reasons, Ambassador Tutwiler stated that being United
States Ambassador to Morocco has been one of the most
rewarding positions she has ever held, on both a professional
and a personal level.
The Free Trade Agreement currently under negotiation
between Morocco and the United States is the manifestation
of a deepening of the already close ties between the
two countries, according to the Ambassador. Since
September 11, 2001, the Kingdom of Morocco has been
one of America’s closest allies in the global
war on terror. The Kingdom of Morocco, she said, “is
the one Arab nation that has for centuries, not only
had a tolerance for different faiths, but a true respect
and friendship between Christians, Muslims and Jews.”
“As Moroccans we have always built our face away
from the sea, but now we have learned the benefits
of turning our face to the sea.” By recounting
a friend’s remark, the Ambassador perfectly encapsulated
the new philosophy of Morocco as it develops its tourism
potential for the 21st century. One of the Kingdom’s
greatest assets is in fact, its extensive coastline,
running for over 1,000 miles, from the Atlantic Ocean
in the far southwest of the country to the Mediterranean
Sea bordering Algeria. The Ambassador emphasized that
the Moroccan government’s Plan Azur (Coastal
Plan) is a serious initiative, with the government
committed to creating a number of new tourist resort
complexes along the length of the nation’s coastline.
A significant component of this initiative is a major
environmental cleanup project, necessitated by decades
of pro-industry and anti-environmental polices that
allowed companies to release all manner of toxic materials
into the nation’s waterways and coastal areas.
Ambassador Tutwiler added that eco- or (green) tourism
is another segment of Morocco’s tourism promotion
campaign, with the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID), involved in strengthening the
infrastructure of villages in inland areas that would
appeal to tourists. Under this plan, the Ambassador
explained, tourists could take day trips from their
coastal resorts to these villages or opt to spend
a night or two before returning to the resorts.
She noted that Morocco is geographically the closest
Arab nation to the United States, and is unique in
that “it has always cleaved to the West, and
yet proudly maintained its Muslim faith and African
roots.” The Ambassador, while listing the many
wonderful things about Morocco, emphasized that “its
most outstanding feature is its people (and that Moroccans)
are some of the most genuine and hospitable people
anywhere.”
Ambassador Tutwiler put it best in parting when she
said, “Every American I have ever met has left
Morocco warmly touched by the Moroccan people.”
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