Transatlantic relationships: New challenges, opportunities and interdependence

By Mass Mboup

3rd edition of The Atlantic Dialogues, Marrakech (24-26 October 2014): While the previous editions had met in Rabat, the German Marshall Fund of the United states (GMF) and OCP Policy Center in Morocco (OCPPC), co-founders of the annual Atlantic Dialogues forum, decided to blow their third set of candles in Marrakech, an imperial city commonly known as the 'Red City', one that the great Arab Sufi poets had already nicknamed the 'Pearl of southern Morocco'.

The 2014 edition was initially marked by a major change in the organizational and protocol devices. Two new faces appeared. From GMF, Karen Donfried, who has been newly promoted to the head of the institution following Craig Kennedy: she was able to bring freshness, sensitivity and above all a feminine touch. On the Moroccan side, Karim El Aynaoui, managing director of the OCP Policy Center has brilliantly carried on the work of Mostafa Terrab. Between the two, was the ubiquitous Ian Lesser, executive director of GMF's Brussels office, who brought the necessary pace and tempo.

There were no great upheavals in the programming but, on the other hand, there was a clear willingness to go even further, especially in the choice of topics and experts called upon for the different panels. And, like every year, many guests from all over the world made the trip to discuss various issues, in particular the central theme 'Strategic partnerships in the Atlantic basin'.

Food security and agricultural development; dealing with terrorist acts; the fight against organized crime at sea; the dynamics of economic growth and development in the Atlantic area; challenges in parts of the world affected by recurrent crises; the fight against global warming, the post-Bali agenda of the WTO. Participants brainstormed all these issues during the forum, both in the plenary session and during the thematic sessions, which brought together small groups of experts. Thus, there were presentations by eminent personalities. Among these were Youssef Amrani (Morocco), Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria), Jean-David Levitte (France), Aminata Toure (Senegal), Laura Chinchilla (Costa Rica), Jorge Castaneda (Mexico-USA) and Miguel Angel Moratinos (Spain).

Ebola

The African continent was again under the spotlight.The Ebola epidemic, which is at the heart of the international agenda, found its way into the discussions. This helped to take stock of the situation, especially with regards to the countries of West Africa (Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone) where the virus has wreaked havoc.

Stakeholders tried to provide a lucid diagnosis, and then proposed some ideas on how to support the international community in its search for appropriate responses to overcome the disease. The panel on Ebola has provided an opportunity for specialists and other public health professionals from diverse backgrounds to compare their approaches, share their experiences and then answer questions from the public.

"What are the challenges of global health security and what must we do collectively," asked Deborah Birx, US ambassador for the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. "Regardless of where you may be, you need to have an early warning system, we cannot just rely on the World Health Organization, it is the responsibility of the whole world," she added. Raj Panjabi (from Liberia), CEO of Last Mile Health, an NGO that works to expand access to health care in rural Africa, agreed. Somewhat bitterly, he drew the following conclusion: "If we had spent tens of millions of dollars for medical care in villages in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, we should spend billions of dollars from now, and we would have saved more lives."

Another highlight was the Emerging Leaders programme that was launched during the forum. With greater visibility than last year, it created real momentum through a generation of young leaders, who are ambitious and willing to "do battle" with their elders and want to make a decisive contribution to building partnerships.

And, last but not least, there was a conversation with Aminata Toure. An opportunity for the former prime minister of Senegal, opposite Jim Kolbe - senior transatlantic fellow - and before a packed audience , to address various issues, such as good governance resources (such as of Senegal), the phenomenon of corruption in Africa and issues related to reproductive health, as well as regulatory functions in the role of African civil society.

Atlantic Dialogues 2014 more or less came up expectations. In an environment marked by many concerns concerning Ebola, GMF and the OCP Policy Center maintained good organization at the forum as expected. On the other hand, the sessions had the merit of being more focused, providing the opportunity for participants to discuss many subjects, while at other times there was as a feeling of being trapped in the "traditional USA-Europe of Brussels", to paraphrase a phrase used by John Yearwood, world editor of The Miami Herald.

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