Makhzen – The makhzen is a concept that best captures the nature of the political system in Morocco since the precolonial past up to the present. The makhzen is identified in different ways. It has historically been associated with the coercive authority of the Moroccan state as well as its different systems of control and domination. Anthropologists and cultural historians have identified the makhzen as part of the cultural basis of authority that the Moroccan state rely upon and as a system of representation of precolonial monarchical power. The makhzen can also be seen as a symbol of domination of the monarchy and a sign of its authoritarian and violent nature. The concept typically evokes fear of and respect for the monarchy in the imaginary of Moroccans. An important aspect of the makhzen is its capacity to modernize itself and to adapt to changing historical contexts, a reality that explains its political endurance.

Please match the leader with his current or former country – thank you. 

The Egyptian economy suffers from several structural problems: inefficiency and competitiveness; the military has huge political influence also retains financial and economic assets; crony capitalism; and popular demands for economic justice and new opportunities run counter to government accession to neoliberal policies.

The Middle East suffers in part from the effects of persistent authoritarianism, lack of political participation, poor economic growth, foreign indebtedness to the West, competition for resources and increasing urbanization.

Front de Libération Nationale (The Liberation National Front, FLN) – The revolutionary body created in 1954 to gain independence and acted as the single party from independence in 1962 until 1989.  

Cities have always been important in the history of the Middle East and North Africa, frequently developing as nodes connecting the well-traveled routes of armies and traders e.g. Cairo and Istanbul and how they have developed over thousands of years. [Chapter 2: “The Middle East: A Geographic Preface” by Ian R. Manners in Schwedler’s edited book.]

The Party of Justice and Development (PJD) – One of the most Islamist parties in Morocco. It is moderate in its ideological orientation and has gradually managed to establish itself as a major political force within parliamentary politics. The party was originally founded by Abdelkrim al-Khatib but without much political weight until it was allowed by the Moroccan regime to be integrated by a group of Islamists known as shabiba al-islamia to become part of the Unity and Reform Movement which changed its name to the PJD in 1998. Allowing the PJD to exist in the political landscape is part of the Moroccan regime’s strategy to domesticate the Islamists. But given the nature of the political system in Morocco, the PJD does not actually have a hold on power which is concentrated in the hands of the monarch.

In which country did Kemalism (Mustafa Kemal) guide the process of state-building?

Algeria is located in the Khaleej sub-region.  It is only a few hundred miles from the southern Indian peninsula and it is the largest country in Africa. 

Please match the correct term with its definition – thank you.