The Dual-level Interaction:A Study Of The Domestic Agendas In Moroccan Foreign Policy

Foreign policy is an external extension of a country's internal affairs and an important research topic of international relations.Internal agendas are based on security demand,interest preference and identity positioning,in which security demand refers to the power of the ruling circles' security;domestic interest preference refers to the actors' "practical interest" in order to enhance the economic benefit of the Monarchy;identity positioning refers to the presence of a variety of identity conflicts as to how to maintain the integration for maximum interest.Based on this,this disseratation puts forward the ultimate decision makers,domestic and international agendas,the dual-level interaction,namely foreign policy decision-makers meet the domestic and international demands simultaneously.On the one hand,Moroccan policy makers meet domestic needs,and on the other hand,they attempt to meet the requirements of international community,and to consolidate the internal and social cohesion via diplomacy.The foreign policy model of Moroccan-featured domestic agenda and international agenda has three characteristics:pyramid structure of foreign policy decision-making,the four interrelated domestic agendas and the interlinked domestic and international agenda setting.Among the above three features,the decision-making structure is at the center of the dual-level interaction model,which determines who is the ultimate decision-making unit,which largely determines the domestic audience of the international game.Morocco's decision-making mechanism has a strict pyramidal structure,which is composed of core decision-making circle,subsidiary decision-making circle and marginal decision-making circle from top to bottom.The core decision-making layer is the final decision-making unit in the double-level game model.It is mainly composed of the king,the royal advisory group and the security organ.The King secures the core position for all the officals are loyal to him.The subordinate decision-making layer is mainly composed of the government and parliament,whose main function is to execute the royal decision-making and act as the political representative and implementer of the royal family in foreign service activities.Political parties,civil society and public opinion are the marginal groups of decision-makers.They have strong professional and social mobilization abilities,and their main functions are political support and opposition.In addition to the core decision-making circle,the other decision-making circle is also an important domestic policy audience,to a certain extent shaping the process and outcome of the final decision-making.Morocco's foreign policy has four kinds of internal agendas.The first agenda is to maintain the security of the Alawite regime in Morocco,whose core is to ensure the security of the clerical authority and the legitimacy of the Monarchy.In order to pursue regime security,Morocco implemented alliance diplomacy to the United States and Saudi Arabia respectively,protecting the clerical power and the monarchical power.The second agenda is the issue of Western Sahara,whose core objective is to pursue international recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the land.As a national cause,the issue of Western Sahara has the characteristics of both the "objective" and"instrument",which is not only the highest diplomatic goal,but also it can squeeze the strategic space of regional adversaries.In diplomatic practice,it is mainly reflected in Morocco's "foregin aid policy" toward Africa by religious and economic diplomacy;and "detente" and "hostility" toward to Algeria.The third agenda is economic development,which is the direct source oflegitimacy of the royal family and the"elected government",which indirectly affects the survival and security of the political entity.Under the characteristics of export-oriented economy,Moroccan policy makers maintain and strengthen economic ties with traditional allies(the United States,the European Union and the GCC countries)on the one hand,and expand new strategic partners(China,India and Russia)on the other hand.The last agenda is the integration between ethnic minorities with the majorities.On the international agenda,it is mainly about how to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and how to deal with the challenges of internationalization of berbers.The last feature is the international agenda setting of dual-level interaction,that is,Moroccan decision makers can not only meet the needs of domestic agenda,but also win benefits in the international arena through a smart diplomatic path.Alliance diplomacy is the most important tool for the Moroccan royal family to deal with domestic and foreign security threats.In practice,this approach rationally serves the needs of Allies and obtains strategic resources needed to deal with domestic agenda.The second international agenda is economic diplomacy.In this dissertation,the development of the connotation of economic diplomacy-"to promote economy by economic means" "to promote economy by politics" and "to promote political interest by economic means".The three modes are in conformity with Moroccan diplomacy to emerging economies(for domestic economic development),to sub-saharan Africa policy(for their support on western Sahara issue)and to EU policy(seeking EU's economic aid through political reforms)respectively.The third international agenda is religious diplomacy,embodied mainly in the publicity of the Moroccan model as moderate Islam to Africa and the European Union.Other international agendas,such as engagement with Israel and integration policy on berber,can also reflect the linkagebetween domestic and international agendas of the Monarchy's foreign policy decision-making.