Can economic cooperation be a tool to foster political change? Or should it rather stay focused on economics? The United States of America (US) launched an initiative to create a free trade area covering the whole Middle East and North Africa (MENA), a very diverse region with a multitude of conflicts. I will first outline this initiative itself, its approach and objectives from two sides – the US and the MENA perspective. I will briefly describe the impact a free trade area could have, focusing on economic aspects. At the end of the first part I will further elaborate on general difficulties the initiative is facing. In the second section I will discuss the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA), starting with its background and its contents. The economic needs of Morocco and the impact of the agreement shall be subject of analysis in this part, too. I will conclude with a critical assessment of the FTA in the Middle East Free Trade Area (MEFTA) context and discuss thequestion, if it can be a step towards realization. My findings are that it only opens a window of opportunity and it does not guarantee any success. In fact, an absolute success is rather unlikely considering the variety of difficulties arising and if the Free Trade area shall be realized within 2013, the pace of ratifying treaties should increase significantly.
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