On 23 May, Gert Huskens presented in Aix-en-Provence his paper Murky water in Tangier. Sanitary transimperialism and Belgian economic expansion in (pre-)colonial Morocco, 1899-1920 at the 6th New Diplomatic History Conference in the panel Humanitarian and health diplomacy chaired by prof. Benoît Pouget. In his contribution, Huskens looked at the Belgian entrepreneurs and companies that became interested in developing modern water supply infrastructure in Tangier. What role did Belgian diplomacy in Morocco play in brokering access to this market? How did the participation of Belgian diplomats in Tangier’s Conseil Sanitaire du Maroc relate to these efforts of Belgian economic expansionism? Making use of the Belgian Diplomatic Archives in Brussels, the French Diplomatic Archives in Nantes, the archives of the Compagnie générale des Conduites d’Eau in the Belgian State Archives in Liège and the Belgian Royal Palace Archives, his contribution demonstrated how inter-imperial competition over Morocco and resistance by the local government of the late-Alaouite Sherifian Sultanate prevented a Belgian entrepreneur to set up business.

This three-day conference was organized by the New Diplomatic History Network in collaboration with Mesopolhis. The Mediterranean Centre for Sociology, Political Science and History, Sciences Po Aix and the Aix-Marseille University. This sixth installment of the New Diplomatic History Conference was dedicated to the study of diplomatic transfers, networks, representations and practices between the World and Europe, but also between Europe and the World. This approach aims to highlight North-South and South-North dimensions of diplomatic practices and actors during the modern and contemporary periods (XVIth – XXIst centuries).