The discursive construction of Spanish-Moroccan bilaterality

Through diplomatic discourse and despite successive crises and moments of disagreement, Morocco and Spain have always tried through discursive diplomacy to create a constructive and cooperative narrative that responds to the new reality and complexity of bilateral ties.  

Agreements, conventions and treaties constitute in this sense a form of diplomatic communication that fits into the context of a more or less balanced bilateral relationship, and which offers us an exhaustive corpus of qualitative data that can serve to verify the hypothesis that the notion of friendship in Spanish-Moroccan diplomatic discourse is a discursive representation rather than a lived and shared reality between the two countries.

The Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighbourliness signed in Rabat on 4 July 1991 was not the first diplomatic document in which the word friendship is mentioned to qualify the bilateral relations between Morocco and Spain; as early as 26 April 1860, a Treaty of Peace and Friendship was signed in Tetouan between Isabella II, Queen of Spain, and Sultan Sidi-Mohammed Ben Abderraman , King of Morocco, a treaty better known as the Treaty of Wad Ras since it took place after the Battle of Wad Ras, the last engagement of the Moroccan War, which occurred on 23 March 1860, and which followed the Battle of Castillejos and the Battle of Tetouan, thus completing Spain's colonial military action in northern Morocco. 

To understand this curious friendship proclaimed by this treaty, or rather imposed by campaign cannons and with the bitterness of defeat, we have to analyse the role played by the rhetoric of Spanish-Moroccan brotherhood in Africanism and, especially, in the protectorate's own colonial policy.   

The anthropologist J. L. Mateo Dieste explains in his book on this subject that the reference to "brotherhood" between Spaniards and Moroccans in pre-colonial texts and during the Protectorate is recurrent, and is one of the main rhetorical clichés among those used to justify Spanish colonisation in North Africa. It is not a superficial concept here, but rather a key element of an ideology and discourse which, in the Protectorate period, represented the body of a basic doctrine in the so-called 'indigenous policy'. 

In this framework, the ideal qualities of the Spanish intervener were described, who could understand the "indigenous soul" better than other European colonisers and therefore only the Spaniard could understand "the Moor, not as an inferior being but as a friend or, rather, as a younger brother who must be tutored until he comes of age", as it is written in a guidance note of the Spanish High Commissariat in Morocco. 

From the rhetoric of brotherhood to the rhetoric of friendship, the diplomatic discourse continues its work of building a common perception of an idealised bilateralism, thus the 1991 treaty entitled "treaty of friendship, good neighbourliness and cooperation between Spain and Morocco" proclaims the will of the parties to maintain relations of friendship and good neighbourliness, as an appropriate framework for developing new areas of understanding and cooperation and of course for a substantial improvement in relations between the two countries. 

It cannot be denied that the signing of this treaty was a real qualitative step forward in Spanish-Moroccan relations, as it sought to eliminate the tendencies of confrontation and conflict in the region on the basis of a somewhat timid adherence to the principles of international legality, but the following question must be asked: Does this treaty, which constituted the reference framework for 11 high-level meetings (HLM) and dozens of bilateral cooperation agreements and protocols, when it uses the language of friendship and good neighbourliness, refer to concrete principles of international law, or is it only a rhetorical formula that seems to have a continuous historical presence in the common diplomatic discourse?  

With regard to friendship, it is worth noting that the social sciences have been primarily concerned with the question of conflict and enemies, while marginalising the issues of peace and friendship. Given this lack of academic attention to the concept, it can be assumed that the notion of friendship is either misleadingly used or becomes a matter of semantics. It is therefore necessary to conceptualise and investigate whether friendship exists in international relations in order to better understand the motives behind states' behaviour.  

First, it should be noted that the defining characteristic of friendship is altruism, which is incompatible with the very raison d'être of states, namely to promote the interest of their citizens. Therefore, the crucial importance of the social ties that are established between states, which can alter and even converge their own interests, suggests using the concept of partnership rather than friendship. 

Mutual trust, reciprocity and honesty are necessary elements of friendship, but insufficient in themselves. For only normative or virtuous friendship, based on the overcoming of self-interest, deserves the name.  

Applying friendship to international relations implies that the behaviour of states may include self-sacrifice, which is contrary to the very nature of states and their raison d'être, which are to establish domestic peace, promote the public good and thus promote the interest of citizens. This purpose is formulated as "the national interest" that drives the behaviour of states. Here, it is essential to emphasise that national interests may in some contexts include the interest of other states. However, this is not a sign of friendship but of partnership. This means that, logically, states cannot be altruistic and therefore friends. Of course, social ties enhance trust, openness and thus reduce uncertainty between states. These characteristics therefore mark a state of partnership, but not of friendship. 

Thus, friendship between states is rejected as theoretically unsound in international relations. Altruism as a crucial component of friendship is incompatible with the purpose of states to promote the interest of their citizens. In this sense, we can understand why the 1999 Treaty1 with all its rhetoric of good friendship and neighbourliness has not been a sufficient framework either to fulfil its expectations or to avoid conflict. 

I believe that today, instead of continuing to invest in the romanticism of a "common past" and "mutual understanding", Spain and Morocco can mobilise all their efforts to create meaningful social ties and thus converge national interests and pursue a real common project.  

It is important that policy-makers and academics in both countries recognise that friendship, and therefore altruism, cannot exist between states. The joint declaration adopted by Morocco and Spain at the end of the talks between His Majesty King Mohammed VI and the Spanish Prime Minister in Rabat gave us the example to follow, as it makes no reference to the "treaty of friendship, good neighbourliness and cooperation" and instead of resorting to the old rhetoric of always claiming the will to maintain friendly relations between the two countries, the declaration announces the beginning of the construction of a new stage of partnership based on the principles of transparency, permanent dialogue, mutual respect, trust and consultation.