Two years after President Barack Obama's famous speech to the
Muslim world in Cairo, it's time for him to rethink and adjust his approach to
the region, according to the foreign minister of Morocco.
Foreign Minister Taieb
Fassi Fihri, who is touring Washington this week, met with Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton Wednesday afternoon.
He sat down with The Cable for an
exclusive interview just before the meeting, following a speech at the Brookings
Institution. Fihri said that Obama should revise his strategy for dealing with
the Arab world in light of the dramatic events sweeping the region.
"[Obama] now has some results, some bad, some good, some
question marks. We need an evaluation, an adjustment," he said. The recent
rifts between European allies aside, the United States and Europe must come
together to establish a clear approach to the region, he said.
"We need coherent and complementary actions vis-à-vis all of
the south of the Mediterranean."
Asked whether the United States and Europe have different
interests in the region, especially in Libya, he said, "Now they have common
interests."
The United States could start by deepening and broadening
its strategic relationship with Morocco, he suggested. Morocco has a free trade
agreement with the United States, as well as a compact with the Millennium
Challenge Corporation, but wants a deeper strategic dialogue and greater
cooperation in areas like counter-narcotics, he said.
"Now, because the world has changed, now we have to decide
on a new roadmap, action oriented, to look to the future, because our society
has changed, our economy has changed, and we have to readjust this strong
partnership in the context of our common evolution," he said.
Following their meeting, Clinton thanked Morocco for leading
the drive for Arab support for the Libyan intervention, especially last weekend
during a crucial meeting in Paris. Fihri said that it was the responsibility of
all U.N. member countries to enforce the Security Council resolution to protect
civilians but that Morocco was not in a position to participate militarily.
"Morocco has other military concerns because of the Sahara
issue... but we have to think first about our national interest," he said.
Morocco supports the international effort to protect
civilians in Libya, but said that some nations should be left alone to sort out
their own affairs, and noted the example of Saudi Arabia.
"Saudi Arabia is an important state, has an important role,
and is key for many things. We have to respect their policy, not only at a
domestic level. We cannot decide many things in the region without Saudi
Arabia," Fihri said.
Clinton praised Morocco's political reforms as a model for
the region. She also said that the military intervention in Libya was making
"significant progress," and had halted the Libyan government's pending assault
on Benghazi, which would have put hundreds of thousands of Libyans at risk.
"I know that the nightly news cannot cover a humanitarian
crisis that thankfully did not happen, but it is important to remember that
many, many Libyans are safer today because the international community took
action," she said.
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