154 Final Project

Morocco and Algeria’s Severed Diplomatic Ties: Hacking and Diplomacy

In recent years, cyber attacks between North African countries Morocco and Algeria have increased in frequency and in scale. The two neighbors are continually hacking one another’s servers and creating headaches for officials and diplomats in both countries. The hacks are rooted in hostility, with one fairly recent incident involving an Algerian hacker targeting the University of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz of Fez (FSDM) in Morocco, a prominent University in Morocco (HESPRESS, 2022). Morocco and Algeria are entrenched in a back and forth hacking war, with each country constantly trying to out-do the other through advanced counter attacks: increasing the complexity of the cyber attacks, targeting more prominent pages such as governmental websites and institutions. While on the surface, this may just seem like a petty quarrel between the two countries, this electronic war is just one manifestation of a historically rocky and belligerent relationship. Their shared border has been closed since 1994 (CaspianReport, 2021), and in 2021, diplomatic ties between the two were officially and completely severed (Rachidi, 2022). In order to understand the context surrounding the ongoing cyberwar between Algeria and Morocco, it’s crucial to understand the historical foundation that created these diplomatic fault lines in the first place. Additionally, the growth of Internet use in both countries has created new ways for their conflicts to manifest, causing the rift between the two to expand.

Hostility between Algeria and Morocco can be traced as far back as 1830, when France began their colonial occupation of Algeria. A back and forth between France, Morocco, and Algeria during the 1830 occupation resulted in border disputes between the three countries, resulting in un-demarcated and contested borders that the French were changing ownership of: regions that initially belonged to Morocco were given to Algeria after discovery of precious metals and resources (CaspianReport, 2021). With an initial agreement made to give the disputed land back to Morocco after Algerian independence in the 1950s/60s, newly-independent Algeria broke this agreement and instead opted to keep the land, igniting the Sand War (1963) and planting seeds of mistrust and disdain between the two countries (ibid). This is part of the beginning of the political and territorial rivalry between Morocco and Algeria, but at this point, it was just beginning. The end of another colonial tie would worsen the situation and set the two countries on a path of no return.

The Western Sahara is a region situated south of Morocco. It’s about the size of England and has a population of a little over 500,000. Though the land is sparsely populated and its landscape is not conducive to development on a wide scale, the region provides extended access to the Atlantic Ocean and is home to a wealth of valuable resources. Conflict over sovereignty of the Western Sahara region has been the source of much geopolitical strife for Morocco and Algeria, with one report explaining, “for over four decades, the Western Sahara issue has purportedly been the main reason for the poor relations between the two countries; their positions over the status of the territory are irreconcilable,” (Rachidi, 2022). Spain had originally colonized the region in 1884, primarily utilizing the land for its natural resources. However, pressure from countries like the United States, France, Morocco, a Western Sahara nationalist group called the Polisario Front, and even the UN pushed Spain to make a formal exit from the region in 1976 (BBC, 2023).

Colonial Spain’s exit from the Western Sahara region sparked a race to occupation between Algeria and Morocco. Both countries made solid cases for why they should be the one to hold sovereignty over the desert area. Upon their exit, Spain had endowed the region to Morocco (which, as Chograni, 2021 explains, broke international law; you can’t simply hand the reigns of a country over to a different country, per the 1975 International Court of Justice declaration), who then annexed the region (CaspianReport, 2021). This strengthened Morocco’s case for sovereignty over Western Sahara. Algeria, however, sought out sovereignty over the region in pursuit of regional dominance and more direct access to the Atlantic Ocean (ibid). As both African nations pursued the region, native nationalist group the Polisario Front collaborated with Algeria in order to shake Morocco out of Western Sahara (Bashir, 2022). During this conflict that lasted two decades, Morocco came to control two-thirds of Western Sahara (ibid), an area that assumes the whole coastline of the region. A UN-backed 1991 ceasefire treaty ended the conflict (BBC, 2023). However, the long term implications of the original colonial era border disputes coupled with the Western Sahara conflict have permanently tarnished the relationship between Morocco and Algeria.

International debate on whether Western Sahara should become part of Morocco, Algeria, or become its own independent country is a mixed bag. While the UN does not recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the region, the U.S. and an array of other Arab nations do. During the final weeks of the Trump Administration, the U.S made a clear stance: Morocco should hold sovereignty over Western Sahara. The implications of this were immense, as Zunes (2022) explains, “for the Moroccans, the U.S. recognition has only solidified their insistence that self-determination is out of the question. If the world’s number one superpower insists that Western Sahara is part of Morocco and blocks the United Nations from enforcing its resolutions, why should they even consider compromising? To the Moroccans, U.S. recognition means the issue has been resolved in their favor and they have no incentive to adhere to their international legal obligations.”. While it was hoped that Joe Biden would reverse this statement, the current president has yet to (Zunes, 2022). The conflict over Western Sahara between Morocco and Algeria has had international political implications, as countries divide and take sides on the issue. Discussion over the future of Western Sahara  goes largely without the consultation of the people actually living in the region, with Moroccan leadership calling the shots for most of the country in the legislative and judiciary realms (Freedom House, 2021).

Colonial era border disputes and the issue of Western Sahara’s sovereignty are the two key historical drivers behind the rocky relationship between Morocco and Algeria. The implications of their less than friendly relationship have manifested through multiple ways such as the 1994 closure of their shared border (CaspianReport, 2021), the 2021 closure of Algerian airspace to Moroccan planes (Financial Express, 2021). The emergence of cyber attacks waged between the two countries illustrate that the conflict between them is evolving. In the era of the internet, cyber attacks have presented a new way for the Morocco-Algeria conflict to manifest and simmer. In addition to verbal attacks between politicians, limitations on immigration, and boycotts of the other’s products, cyber attacks are providing yet another outlet for Moroccans and Algerians to express their feelings toward each other. With sharp increases in Internet usage in both countries since 2005 (World Bank, 2020), it makes sense that the ways in which this dispute manifests have changed to rely on the Internet slightly more. Both sides have numerous communities of hackers that carry out the cyber attacks such as Morocco’s Morocco Hack Team and Algeria’s 1962 Team, both of which carry out large scale advanced attacks against governmental, institutional, and political websites. These are informal communities not recognized by their respective governments yet they carry out attacks that communicate the messages of their governments. This is a pro to cyber attacks: cyber attacks are low cost, dynamic, and effective in communicating each side’s strategic goals (Bashir, 2022). With these pros in mind, it is likely that cyber attacks between the two countries will not subside any time soon and are in fact more likely to ramp up further in frequency and scale. Additionally, in general, tensions between the two North African nations are not expected to die down any time soon, with the chance for reconciliation between the two being slim.

The present report has sought to provide historical context and background for the  increased number of cyber attacks carried out between Morocco and Algeria. As discussed, a number of historically-rooted geopolitical conflicts laid the groundwork for the conflict ridden relationship between the two countries. Border disputes dating back to as early as 1830, when France first colonized Algeria, as well as a postcolonial dispute over the territory of Western Sahara have been the sources for strife and have ultimately put their diplomatic relationship at a point of no return. Political, social, economic, and legislative manifestations of this conflict had international implications, as countries offer their support for either country and weigh in on their disputes. Cyber attacks have simultaneously worsened the already terrible relations between Morocco and Algeria while also creating a new way for the conflict to manifest. In the age of the Internet, cyber attacks have become effective ways in communicating a country’s goals and feelings. Morocco and Algeria will likely continue to be at odds with each other for years to come as hackers become more sophisticated and swift in their attacks.

References:

Bashir, H. (2022). A cyber shadow- war between algeria and morocco.https://arabwall.com/en/a-cyber-shadow-war-between-algeria-and-morocco/

BBC. (2023). Western Sahara profile. Retrieved April 20, 2023, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14115273

CaspianReport. (2021, September 14). Algeria & Morocco: the world’s most self-destructive rivalry [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHEnhnmbIio

Chograni, H. (2021). The polisario front, morocco, and the western sahara conflict.https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/the-polisario-front-morocco-and-the-western-sahara-conflict/

Financial Express. Algeria closes airspace to Moroccan planes as dispute deepens.(2021, Sep 23,). The Financial Express, Retrieved from HT Media Ltd. database. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2575267576

Freedom House. (2021). Freedom in the world 2021: Western sahara. Retrieved April 20, 2023, from https://freedomhouse.org/country/western-sahara/freedom-world/2021

HESPRESS. (2022). Moroccan hackers ‘retaliate’ against algerian hacking attempts.https://en.hespress.com/48243-moroccan-hackers-retaliate-against-algerian-hacking-attempts.html

Rachidi, I. (2022). Morocco and algeria: A long rivalry. Retrieved April 20, 2023, from https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/87055

World Bank. (2020). Individuals using the internet (% of population) – algeria. Retrieved April 22, 2023, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS?locations=DZ

World Bank. (2020). Individuals using the internet (% of population) – morocco. Retrieved April 22, 2023, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS?locations=MA

Zunes, S. (2022). Biden’s dangerous refusal to reverse Trump’s western sahara policy. Retrieved April 21, 2023, from https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/02/06/bidens-dangerous-refusal-to-reverse-trumps-western-sahara-policy/