This journal comprises several articles. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has to decide whether Morocco’s application to join should be accepted or thrown out. Jibrin Ibrahim in his article ‘Morocco and ECOWAS: Picking Cherries and Dismantling Core Principles’ makes the case that ECOWAS should not allow itself to be stampeded into accepting Morocco into its fold without thinking through the implications for its core principles and practices. Babatunde Idowu’s article ‘ Morocco’s application to join ECOWAS: a soft power analysis’ uses the notion of ‘Soft Power’ to explore the power of attraction and persuasion ECOWAS possess, that makes it more attractive for Morocco relative to other RECs on the continent. He makes the case that the ECOWAS Treaty clearly defines who ECOWAS Member States are, and Morocco is not on the list. Omarou in his article ‘The accession of the Kingdom of Morocco to the Economic Community of West African States’ makes the assessment that the legal texts in force are not explicit on the accession of new members to ECOWAS. A comparative analysis with those of 1975 suggests that they were not designed to include the definition of “ECOWAS Member States”, States outside the West African region. However, the Heads of State and Government may decide otherwise with all the consequences that this implies. The article ‘ECOWAS Expansion Versus Integration: Dynamics and Realities’ by Chukwuemeka Eze makes the argument that Morocco’s application to join ECOWAS is moved by self-interest. Morocco is seeking to position itself as a continental power sitting at the top of the political and economic table in Africa. Jideofor Adibe argues in ‘Issues and options in Morocco’s quest to join the ECOWAS’ that ECOWAS should insist on the principles of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance lists a number of democratic principles “shared by all member states.” The Kingdom of Morocco, as a monarchy, clearly does not meet this condition. This means that the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Governance will need to be amended for Morocco to meet the criteria for admission.
