Discussions of the unsettled political and social landscapes in the Middle East and North Africa frequently point to Morocco as an exception. An Arab League member-state, Morocco enjoys a favorable image in the West, seemingly combining a healthy and balanced mix of tradition and modernity, authenticity with openness to foreign cultures, political stability and evolution towards greater pluralism, and a marked improvement in the legal and social status of women. This book offers a comprehensive and detailed scholarly examination of Morocco's political, social and cultural evolution under King Mohammed VI. Contributions from an international lineup of experts on Moroccan history, politics, economy, society and culture explain the tension and dynamics between the state authorities and competing social actors, and highlight the durability of the monarchical institution while also pointing to the continued challenges it faces from a variety of directions. The analysis touches on a number of issues, notably youth, and women and religious reform to investigate how the country has become significantly more open and less repressive, and how any unrest Morocco experienced during the recent ‘Arab Spring’ has been controlled. Employing various disciplines and theoretical perspectives, the result is an analytically rich portrayal which sheds important light on the country's prospects and the challenges it confronts in an era of steadily accelerating globalization. As such, it will be of interest to students and scholars who focus on modern Morocco, North Africa and the Middle East, as well as researchers in the fields of Comparative Politics and International Relations.

The first edition of Morocco was published one year before the mass protests of the Arab Spring rocked the Moroccan state. Post-Arab Spring, the country has a new constitution and government, but the state remains uncompromising on any true reform of the monarchy’s claims to power. This new edition provides an introductory overview of the history, contemporary politics, economy, and international relations in Morocco and offers an examination of the challenges to tradition and modernity in the post-colonial state. It has been revised and updated to include analysis of the country’s evolving politics in the years following the Arab Spring, and the consequences this has had for the country’s traditional monarchy. It pays particular attention to the new constitution, the policies of the new Islamist-led government, and it includes an analysis of Morocco’s foreign policy in the post-Arab Spring regional context. Drawing on key academic texts, the author provides a detailed analysis of Morocco, focusing on issues such as: • Morocco’s role within the region • Trade policies with Europe • Migration • Morocco’s Western Sahara policy • Ways of dealing with Political Islam • The extent to which European influence has affected Moroccan society Easily accessible to non-specialists, practitioners, and upper level undergraduate students, the book will be essential reading for those working in the fields of North African studies, International Relations and Middle East studies.

A richly documented survey of modern Moroccan history that will enthral those searching for the background to present-day events in the region.

Herbert Ypma created an innovative approach to interior design in this series of visual sourcebooks for designers, architects, artists, travelers, and everyone interested in home decoration.

This book provides a comprehensive examination of Morocco's political, social and cultural evolution under King Mohammed VI.

Historians have long grappled with the question of how Islamic civilization - so clearly dominant during the medieval period - could fall completely under Western hegemony in the modern age? Many Western writers answer this question by referencing European ingenuity, initiative, and transformative energy in contrast with Islamic parochialism, passivity, and resistance to change. This book challenges such assumptions by studying the career of an aggressive sultan in early-modern Morocco, Mulay Ahmad al-Mansur (r. 1578-1603), who dared to take on the international super-powers of his day and sought to redraw the map of Islamic Africa. Al-Mansur is best known for launching a bold invasion across the Sahara desert to conquer the West African Songhay Empire. Most historians ascribe strictly economic motives for this assault, stating that the sultan wished to capture the prosperous gold trade that had traveled for centuries from West Africa to the Mediterranean. Dr Cory argues instead that Mulay Ahmad was pursuing more expansive goals than simply stuffing his coffers with West African gold, as evidenced by audacious claims made on his behalf in numerous panegyric texts produced by the sultan's court. Through a detailed analysis of official histories, documents and correspondence, writings by European observers, and architectural evidence, he contends that the sultan sought to establish a Western caliphate that would eclipse the Ottoman Empire. Mulay Ahmad advanced this agenda through panegyric literature, elaborate court ceremonies, grand constructions, stunning military conquests, and astute diplomacy with European powers, Ottoman officials, and sub-Saharan rulers. Such assertions of universal caliphal authority had not been seriously promoted in Islam for over three hundred years before al-Mansur's reign. Thus al-Mansur sought to move his country forward into the modern age by returning to an institution that had governed Muslim lands during the fabled golden age of the Abbasid and Andalusian Umayyad caliphates. Through an investigation of the sultan's ambitions and achievements Dr Cory provides new insight into the history of relations between Muslim states and the West.

Morocco is notable for its stable and durable monarchy, its close ties with the West, its vibrant cultural life and its centrality to regional politics. This book, by distinguished historian Susan Gilson Miller, offers a richly documented survey of modern Moroccan history. Arguing that pragmatism rather than ideology has shaped the monarchy's response to crisis, the book begins with the French invasion of Algeria in 1830 and Morocco's abortive efforts at reform, the duel with colonial powers and the loss of independence in 1912, the burdens and benefits of France's forty-four year dominion and the stunning success of the nationalist movement leading to independence in 1956. In the post-independence era, the book traces the monarchy's gradual monopolization of power and the resulting political paralysis, with a postscript bringing events up to 2012. This concise, readable book will inform and enthral students and all those searching for the background to present-day events in the region.