Research Proposal on "Western Sahara Conflict"

Research Proposal 32 pages (8710 words) Sources: 20

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Western Sahara Conflict

In the early years of civilization in the Western Saharan regions, civilizations used trade and exchange of services as a means by which to maintain the peace, and to meet the economic and social needs of their expanding civilizations. The Western Sahara was, then, and is today rich in minerals and other resources, not the least of which is oil. For the past thirty years, there has not bee peace in the region, largely because of the natural resources that are worth billions of dollars. The aid that has been sent to the region to assist those people of all nationalities who have become caught up in the violence and greed of the area's leaders, has been embezzled, and it is one of the reasons that the region continues to experience conflict and turmoil. Coming together in the center of the war and conflicts in the region are three major forces that carry political clout: Morocco, Algeria, and the Polisario Front; and then the Western countries that surround Morocco, Algeria, and Western Sahara. The Polisario Front, as denoted by its name, is an opposition force, opposing Moroccan authority, and, in some ways, even Algerian leaders, and has an agenda of its own.

This essay is a study of the region, the resources, the major players and forces, and, finally, the people of the region in an effort to understand what has been done to resolve the conflict and bring about a peace settlement in the region, which would allow the people whose lives remain in constant turmoil and conflict to finally make permanent homes and focus on their daily lives of subsistent living. The citizens of the region who are not in the military, not engaged in the conflict, but whose lives are subjected to decisions and actions of the primary forces and power elites, live in terror each day. They are the ones who suffer the losses, and their lives and losses seem to be of little relevance to the forces in conflict and control. An effort is made in this study to understand why the conflict continues, and which groups or individuals are benefitting from the continued unrest and aggression.

The actual landscape in square miles of the Western Sahara is one about 266,000 square kilometers, or the size of the United Kingdom. The population is largely of Sahrawi origins represent the majority of the total population, which numbers about 340,000 people. Moroccans, too, are part of the population diversity of the region, but like other nationalities, they are the minorities in the population. Where, then, does Algeria and the Polisario come into the dynamics of the region? The Polisario is an exiled political organization supported by a Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Algeria supports and provides financial aid to the exiled Polisario, which came into existence in 1973.

The Western Sahara is the product of the transition from Spanish colonialism, and it goes with the "post" colonial history of European Africa, that following independence, many of the African countries continue to experience turmoil and civil war. The modern history of the "Spanish Sahara," now known as Western Sahara, begins when its Spanish colonial rulers left the region, which Spain had occupied since 1880. Spain left the region not because of guerrilla activity and civil war, but at the urgings of the United Nations in the mid-1960. It is at this time that the current dynamics began unfolding in the region, and the modern day players all planted their stakes in the desert region. At that time Mauritania had made its claim to the Sahara region, but then relinquished that claim in 1973, when, in response to the manipulations to the vying powers' efforts gain control over the area, the guerrilla Polisario came into existence as an organization.

There is a need to understand the positions of the forces at play here. First, it is necessary to gain a sense of the region. What is the landscape, and who occupies what section of that landscape? From where does their claim on the landscape arise from? It is only by analyzing the landscape and the positions of the players that an effort to make sense of what has gone on and continues to go on in Western Sahara can begin to make sense. Even if the sense that it brings to the understanding of the dynamics of the situation belie the true interests of the parties involved. The first is the Moroccan position.

It is unfortunate for the many citizens of Western Sahara who live in poverty and without any voice, and who are probably even less concern for the politics of the region, the status quo of uncertainty is one that each of the groups is willing to continue as it is more favorable to the alternative of resolution. The alternative, it is pointed out in the Executive Summary of 2007, 'Western Sahara: The Cost of Conflict,' is that one part, or more than one party, would, with resolution, walk away with nothing. Peace, stability in the region, and the welfare of the citizens, whom out number those whom lead the conflict and make the decisions that keep the lives of the citizens in turmoil and pain; is not what the parties are willing to consider.

The Moroccan Position

Since the Moroccans are amongst the minority population in Western Sahara, but are major players in the power struggle and in the decision making process in the region, it is necessary to consider their position. Looking at a map, the northern tip of Morocco is across the Mediterranean Sea from Spain. On its own side of the Mediterranean, Morocco is bordered by Algeria, which, like Morocco, is a former French colony. To the south, following the Atlantic coast, beyond Morocco's own southern most border region, is Western Sahara. Western Sahara and Morocco share Algeria as a border neighbor to their west (SEE Addendum 1). To the west of Western Sahara, below the border tip of Algeria, is Mauritania, another former French colony (SEE Addendum 2). It is Mauritania that constitutes the largest western border to Western Sahara (SEE Addendum 2). In 1960 Mauritania annexed the southern "third" of Western Sahara, but relinquished that holding following three years of war guerrilla warfare with the Polisario. Mauritania is not a player in the Western Sahara dynamics.

During the mid 1960s, when the United Nations convinced Spain to surrender to the region's indigenous peoples the right of self-determination, Morocco has been a key figure in the ensuing dynamics of the region. The indigenous people, the Sahrawi, were supported in the goal of self-determination by two United Nations resolutions, one, in 1972, and a second resolution passed in 1973. However, Morocco, having achieved its own independence from France, and having long held that it had a historic claim to the region then being referred to as Western Sahara, convinced Spain to delay referendum on the UN resolutions until King Hussan II's case asserting Morocco's claim could be heard in the International Court of Justice (ICJP). This, then, is the first element in Morocco's position:

Historic claim to the region referred to as Western Sahara.

Morocco's claims went beyond the assertion that its historic claim on land formerly occupied by the Spanish, but included all of Mauritania, and parts of Algeria, Mali, and Senegal. The lands that it was claiming a historic right to was a part of what Morocco held was once "Greater Morocco." If the ICJ ruled in favor of Morocco, it would turn back the hands of territorial time by some hundred years. This was a second point of the Moroccan position:

successful claim on Western Sahara would open the door for Morocco to pursue its territorial claims against Algeria, Mauritania, Mali, and Senegal.

However, the ICJ ruled not in Morocco's favor, but that the Spanish referendums should proceed. By this time, Spain had already begun experiencing the guerrilla activity of the Sahrawi, even though they had not yet evolved into the Polisario. Since Spain was experiencing the guerrilla, even terrorist tactics of the Sahrawi, and it was clearly faced with a changing world where colonialism was a condition of the past, Spain had little interest in trying to sort out the differences between the ethnic conflicts of the Sahrawi, the Berbers, Arabs, and the whites who comprised the region's population. If the ICJ ruled in the favor of Morocco, it would have been turning back the territorial hands of time in a way that it would have been flooded with claims made by other countries as to lands lost and gained during colonization, and perhaps even claims made in European territory disputes.

The IJC ruled, basing its findings on the lack of proof as to the assertion of a claim against the territorial holdings of the former Spanish colonial authority, and they found no substantiation of a claim existed prior to the Spanish colonization of Western Sahara. The court's findings did two things; it resolved the immediate issue… READ MORE

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