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In her book Ahmed al-Mansur the Beginnings of Modern Morocco Mercedes Garcia-Arenal examines various aspects of interaction between Morocco and the much of the influential world that resulted in their military, political, economic and spiritual success. This success ensured that Morocco did not face the same colonization that their neighboring nations were subject to. Under the rule of Ahmed al-Mansur Morocco entered into the global class of influential nations becoming well connected with both regional affairs and global ones.

Mercedes Garcia-Arenal main argument is against a claim made by Bernard Lewis, that Morocco in the 16th and early 17th centuries was “a remote and isolated outpost and a comparatively small and weak country” (Arenal 1). She does so in an effective manner by examining the influence of a particular sultan, Ahmad al-Mansur, and how he pushed the country into the forefront of global politics. Arenal succeeds in her argument by first detailing the countries natural resources and inhabitants of the time, followed by Ahmed’s influence once he assumed the throne in 1578.

Morocco’s during the late 16th and early 17th century was a relatively large land mass, although it contains a large amount of inhabitable dessert, geographically located between the Ottoman Empire to the East, the Spanish to the North, and the Atlantic Ocean to the West. This positioning gave the country a great opportunity to exert its independence through the ability to form alliances. One example of this can be seen through the constant struggle for control of the sea ports, the Eastern Moroccan shore. These ports not only made trade accessible to much of the Western and Northern world but were also essential for any navel attacks on nea...

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...ed to be arriving soon based on the both Christian’s successful campaign and the success of the Ottoman Empire.

This general belief gave Al-Mansur the justification needed for almost any endeavor, militarily of otherwise. He was able to gain popular support for conquests, such as that of Sudan, by declaring it a jihad and crushing opposition through the use of messianic propaganda that represented the sultan as the true Mehdi. This rhetoric was successful in its mission to unite, at the least, Moroccans and the rest of the Maghrib under the religious leadership of Al-Mansur.

Through the use of effective political maneuvering, military strength, and religious rhetoric Al-Mansur was able to push the Moroccan nation into the forefront of world politics. He was successful in that Morocco, during his reign, came to become a dominate player in Mediterranean region.