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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Morocco versus POLISARIO: A Political Interpretation |
Author: | Pazzanita, Anthony G. |
Year: | 1994 |
Periodical: | Journal of Modern African Studies |
Volume: | 32 |
Issue: | 2 |
Period: | June |
Pages: | 265-278 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Western Sahara |
Subjects: | national liberation movements colonialism Politics and Government Inter-African Relations |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/161770 |
Abstract: | By 1994 Africa had only one major unresolved colonial question, that of the Western Sahara. The former Spanish colony remains controlled by Morocco despite the expenditure of thousands of human lives, billions of dollars and strenuous diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute. Starting with the proposition that the Saharan conflict could not have reached this critical juncture without Morocco and Polisario possessing fundamental strengths and weaknesses, this article enumerates and analyses these in the context of each party's success or failure in obtaining outside support at the expense of the other. The backing (or absence of it) of major countries, especially the United States, has had an almost dispositive effect on the progress of the dispute and the UN peace process. Finally, the role and prospects of NGOs relative to the Western Sahara are described, and an outline is given of the present limitations and future potential of their activities. The author concludes that the only way out of the Western Saharan impasse would seemingly be for diplomatic (and possibly economic) pressure to be exerted upon the two parties by their respective backers. Notes, ref. |