CAES Morocco: Advanced Leadership Theories, Ethics, and Culture

Spiritual Royalty     The government in Morocco is organized in such a way that characterizes it as a constitutional monarchy. The way in which power, both political and religious, is secured is through claims of descent from the Prophet Muhammad. Through these claims of descent, the monarchy solidifies its religious authority which allows it to shift the religious tendencies of the country which simutaneously influences political alliances. In pre-colonial as well as post-colonial Morocco, power and religion have gone hand in hand. Before the colonization of Morocco, sultans had always formed mutually beneficial and constantly changing relationships with Sufist leaders. The adoption of Sufism by the Moroccan monarchy has ebbed and flowed over the years. For a while, Morocco shifted away from Sufism towards Salafist Islam. However, after 9/11 and the correlation between Salafist Islam and terrorism, Morocco began to shift its attention away from this religious view, refocusing...

     As we have been driving through various towns, I have noticed a lot of people sitting on the sidewalks in the middle of the day. I found this odd because I figured most people would be at work at that time. This made me believe that those individuals may be unemployed or homeless.       We asked Hamid a few days ago what the homeless population is like in Morocco, and he said that is was a lot less than the States because people here are so community based that they welcome in relatives or friends who are struggling with open arms. While this may be true, there are still approximately 700,000 homeless in Morocco, with about 30,000 of that being children (Padmaraj). According to The Bergen Project, this homeless population was increased by the Structual Adjustment Policy, which had underfunding and a misallocated budget, causing many people to lose their homes (Padmaraj). The government has addressed this issue and is beginning to create more shelt...