al-Maghrib, a combination of the Arabic noun modifier ma and the verb gharaba, which means “to set,” refers to the “place where the sun sets.” A romanticization denoting how the sun sets in the West, the term al-Maghrib, or its anglicization, the Maghreb, is contemporarily used as a geographic endonym to delimitate the area from Alexandria to the Atlantic coast of North Africa. Ironically however, the Land of the Setting Sun is slowly turning into a hotbed for a rising conflict. The ages-long conflict betwixt regional powers Algeria and Morocco has taken a turn for the worse, with the former having cut diplomatic ties with the latter, claiming that Rabat was behind the wildfires currently raging across Kabylia in the northern part of the country.

Bloodshed as Red as the Setting Sun

“The incessant hostile acts carried out by Morocco against Algeria have necessitated the review of relations between the two countries,” stated Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. The feud that runs between Morocco and Algeria is one with a long and bloody history that goes far deeper than just the recent decline in their relations however, with its roots tracing back to the 13th century. Ever since the demise of the Almohad Caliphate — a Berber empire that united Northwest Africa and Southern Iberia for the last time — almost 800 years ago, various dynasties have squabbled over the lands of the Maghreb. The seeds of conflict sown from the wars of conquest between the Zayyanids in Tilimsan, Algeria, and the Marinids in Fez, Morocco were cultivated in the fires of the bitter feud between Ottoman Algeria, and the Sa’dids in Marrakesh, Morocco. Such conflict came to a brief halt when the French colonized the Maghreb during the 19th and 20th centuries. The two nations, along with their smaller Western neighbour Tunisia, had to settle their clashes for the time being.

When the French retreated from the Maghreb half a century later, the uncomfortable peace shattered almost immediately, as border conflicts broke into an all-out war. While the Sand War, as it was called, resulted in status quo ante bellum, relations between Algiers and Rabat deteriorated severely. Dissent brewed over once again barely a decade after the Sand War ended when Spain announced its intention to grant the territory of Western Sahara independence. Afterwards, Moroccan troops immediately moved South, occupying almost two thirds of the territory, to which Algiers reacted by supporting the Polisario Front, the local independence movement in Western Sahara. After strong-arming fellow claimant Mauritania out of Western Sahara, Morocco occupied almost 80 per cent of the territory of Western Sahara.

However, the situation seems to have frozen since then with no significant changes. While the fact that Morocco and Algeria are similar in power affect the situation, the diplomatic landscape seems to have a larger role in shaping the situation into the way it is right now. Rabat maintains strong diplomatic ties with Paris ever since its independence, while Algeria leans towards Egypt and its other Levantine allies in the East.

Storm on the Atlantic Horizon

Algiers’ sudden shift into aggressive diplomacy seems to signal that the status quo that has lasted for almost two decades may be about to change dramatically, to which Professor Lim Gidae (African Studies Centre, Busan University of Foreign Studies) points out that there may be multiple factors behind Algier’s change of mind.

“On the surface, one could assume that Algier’s newfound belligerence against Rabat is an act of retribution for introducing American influence into the Maghreb,” explains Professor Lim, referring to how in December 2020, the United States (U.S.) became the first country in the United Nations (U.N.) to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.

“But the situation in the Maghreb is far too complicated for that to have been the only factor in such diplomatic manoeuvres. The two actual reasons why Algeria has become increasingly hostile towards Morocco are tied to the diplomatic and economic ideals that Algiers holds crucial to its very existence.” continues Professor Lim, “Algeria as a nation was forged in the fires of anti-colonialism and has historically rejected any concepts that even remotely resemble imperialism. To them, Rabat establishing ties with Tel-Aviv — Israel’s de facto capital — was essentially a fellow post-colonial nation accepting what Algiers considers to be a Zionist colony, as a fully-fledged nation.”

On the economic side of the equation, Professor Lim emphasizes how “the consequences of Morocco gaining full sovereignty over Western Sahara is also a threat to the fiscal balance in the region. Western Sahara is home to one of the most potent fisheries in the world, which currently supplies a large portion of the European Union’s (EU) fish consumption. Given that Western Sahara also has the world’s largest phosphate reserves, the economic advantage that Morocco would gain over Algeria would be too huge for Algiers to accept.”

Peace in the Maghreb?

Not all hope for peace seems to be lost though, with Professor Lim’s analysis of the situation providing insight into how the conflict could take a turn for the better. “The situation in the Maghreb has deteriorated too far for it to be bettered on a moment’s notice. The key role, however, belongs to Paris,” he elaborates, “France, being a nation that holds close ties with both Algeria and Morocco, while also having enough immigrants from both countries to be intricately tied to them, holds a crucial part in the thawing of the Maghreb.” Professor Lim further emphasizes how French mediation, along with Rabat’s willingness to negotiate on some of its claims on Western Sahara is the first step towards peace in the region, if only to avoid a second Palestine.

The Maghreb is a region that has seen more than its fair share of bloodshed, from the Arab subjugation of the Berbers to the Reconquista of the Middle Ages, and the revolutions and border wars that plague the lands even today. Yet the fact that neither side can win if this rivalry drags on any longer is indisputable. Just as with the experience of their French and German neighbors to the North during the Second World War, the key to progress lies in peace and cooperation, not conquest and oppression. It is to the hopes of not only the suffering peoples of the Maghreb themselves, but also the international community that the two countries may finally settle their disputes and come together as partners.