Morocco The Islamist Awakening and Other Challenges [Hardcover]

InMorocco, Marvine Howe, a former correspondent forThe New York Times, presents an incisive and comprehensive review of the Moroccan kingdom and its people, past and present. She provides a vivid and frank portrait of late King Hassan, whom she knew personally and credits with laying the foundations of a modern, pro-Western state and analyzes the pressures his successor, King Mohammed VI has come under to transform the autocratic monarchy into a full-fledged democracy. Howe addresses emerging issues and problems--equal rights for women, elimination of corruption and correction of glaring economic and social disparities--and asks the fundamental question: can this ancient Muslim kingdom embrace western democracy in an era of deepening divisions between the Islamic world and the West?

Part One: Return to Morocco
1. Commander of the Faithful
2.Tour du Maroc
Part Two: The Ever-Present Past
3. Protectors, Wards, and Rebels
4. The Long Shadow of King Hassan II
Part Three: Society in Motion
5. Islamic Revival
6. The Conflicting Worlds of Women
7. Split Identity
8. Grappling with Mirages
Part Four: Royal Democracy
9. Zigzags on the Road to Democracy
10. The New Society
11. Saharan Imbroglio
12. Friends, Neighbors and Others
13. Kingdom at the Crossroads
Epilogue: The Challenges
Notes
Bibliography
Glossary
Index

Here we have a bird's-eye view of Morocco today as seen through the eyes of a seasoned reporter who has had a long love affair with the country. Her first-hand account of the early days of nationhood when Morocco's destiny hung in the balance is especially absorbing and well worth the retelling. --Susan Gilson Miller, Director of Moroccan Studies, Harvard University

This is a very special book and everyone who is going to Morocco or is seriously interested in that country should have itl#»