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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Non-Interventionary Norm Prevails: An Analysis of the Western Sahara
Author:Hippel, Karin vonISNI
Year:1995
Periodical:Journal of Modern African Studies
Volume:33
Issue:1
Period:March
Pages:67-81
Language:English
Geographic term:Western Sahara
Subjects:national liberation movements
foreign intervention
Inter-African Relations
international relations
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/161546
Abstract:Fears that the supposedly sacred norm of nonintervention in the domestic affairs of other States has eroded in the last few years are not entirely groundless. Yet the vast majority of long-standing conflicts that survived the Cold War will continue to endure without the threat of external involvement. This article examines why nonintervention occurs and how it can actually contribute to the intractable nature of some conflicts - especially those caused by nationalist sentiment - by examining the case of the Western Sahara. The dispute over the Western Sahara is a bilateral, nondemocratic struggle that encompasses a deep-rooted dislike between Morocco and Algeria. Because it has endured in a critical manner for many years, external powers have been unable to ignore the ensuing war that has had a spillover effect on the surrounding community. Yet their activity has been conducted in a way that can be interpreted as noninterventionary: the States involved - the Soviet Union, the United States, France, Spain - have managed to maintain impartial policies by openly assisting both sides through the supply of arms and economic aid. The international community has never been overly concerned with the resolution of the conflict because it does not threaten the stability in the region, nor has the territory any intrinsic worth. Notes, ref.
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