Morocco’s monarchy began in 1631 with the reign of Mawlay al Sharif. In 1962, Morocco transitioned to a constitutional monarchy paired with an elected parliament made up of a House of Councillors and a House of Representatives.

In 2011, during the now-renowned Arab Spring, King Mohammed VI called for a new parliamentary election. In the process, the King purposefully chose to relinquish some of his powers to the new parliament by writing a new constitution. On July 1, Morocco’s citizens held their election. On July 30, Morocco’s new constitution went into effect.

On August 1, I traveled to Casablanca, Morocco, to begin exploring the North African country in its new form.

On August 3, at the police academy in Cairo, Egypt, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s trial began for the killing of Egyptian protesters during the Days of Rage, January 25 to 28, 2011. I will forever see clearly in my mind the image that was on my television that August 3.

There I sat, on my bed in my hotel room in beautiful Fes, Morocco, in a nation with a King who, just days before, had freely relinquished some of his powers to his parliament, as I watched the leader of one of the largest nations in the Middle East try its president for murder while he sat behind bars in its capital city.