ABSTRACT
Depending upon which side of the Mediterranean or of history one stands on, the Maghrib will look either very different or much the same as it enters the twenty-first century or the fifteenth century. Agricultural and food productivity per capita has been growing significantly in all Maghribi countries except Algeria; Algeria could take part in this trend, too, if it ever develops an agricultural policy, and the whole region can continue to increase productivity for a while, even as population grows. Maghribi states need greater internal consolidation and expanded intra-Maghribi trade and transactions before they can be impelled into strong cooperation. The most striking political characteristic of the independence era has been the consolidation of the state. Yet for all the pervasiveness of the state in size and form, state-society relations appear to be entering a new phase. The uniform trend of state-parties since the mid-1970s has been a move away from civil society.
