The Sources of Protracted Conflict in the Western Sahara - Algerian Hegemony, Spanish Decolonization, Ceasefire, Un Problems, Algeria and Polisario Front, SADR, Tindouf Region, Morocco, ISIS, Al-Qaeda
The Sources of Protracted Conflict in the Western Sahara - Algerian Hegemony, Spanish Decolonization, Ceasefire, Un Problems, Algeria and Polisario Front, SADR, Tindouf Region, Morocco, ISIS, Al-Qaeda

Author: U. S. Military

Publisher:

Published: 2017-05-28

Total Pages: 125

ISBN-13: 9781521388815

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Since the ceasefire of 1991, Morocco and the POLISARIO Front have maintained a stalemate in the Western Sahara conflict. This obscure war, which recently surpassed forty years of hostilities, is at the center of a complex set of regional and foreign interests that encourage its prolongation. New threats in the Sahel, a region riddled with international crime, have brought the contest into focus as gravely important to world order. The UN and international community recognize the potential of this conflict to destabilize North Africa and southern Europe and seek ways forward. While the conflict has roots in superpower rivalry and Algerian-Moroccan competition for regional hegemony, other forces have contributed to its persistence. This study examines potential explanations for the persistence of the conflict, especially inadequate UN organizational structures, Moroccan nationalism, and Algerian domestic politics. Other factors that have received too little attention include competition for national resources, international geopolitics, the weakness of neighboring states, and lobbying by special-interest NGOs. Critical issues and potential areas of reform are identified and recommendations made to assist policymakers and strategists in reaching conflict resolution. CHAPTER I - THE WESTERN SAHARA CONFLICT: OVERVIEW * A. MAJOR RESEARCH QUESTION * B. SIGNIFICANCE * 1. Escalating Humanitarian Crisis * 2. Security Concerns * 3. Criminal Activities * 4. South American Cocaine Trafficking * 5. Other Criminal Activity * 6. Islamist Radicalism Threat * C. LITERATURE REVIEW * 1. Algerian Hegemony * 2. Foreign Interests. * 3. Economic Interests And Natural Resources * 4. Failures of the United Nations * D. POTENTIAL EXPLANATIONS AND HYPOTHESES * E. METHODOLOGY * F. ORGANIZATION * CHAPTER II - CONFLICT OVERVIEW * A. ORIENTATION * B. PHASES OF THE CONFLICT * 1. History Leading up to the Occupation * 2. Spanish Decolonization (1956-1976) * 3. The Ceasefire (1976-1991) * 4. The Present (1992-2016) * CHAPTER III - PROBLEMS CONCERNING THE UN * A. SPAIN AND INSURGENCY * B. MOROCCAN OBSTRUCTIONISM * 1. Sponsorship of a Militia * 2. ICJ Intervention * 3. The Green March * 4. Security Reinforcements * 5. Questions of Voter Eligibility * 6. Claims of Sovereignty * C. U.S. AND FRENCH FAVORITISM * D. INEFFECTUAL PEACEKEEPING * E. STRUCTURAL FLAWS IN THE PEACEKEEPING MISSION * 1. Staffing * 2. Disorganization and Lack of Oversight * 3. Limited Capabilities * CHAPTER IV - ALGERIA AND THE POLISARIO FRONT * A. BACKGROUND * B. ALGERIA'S DOMESTIC POLITICS * 1. The Internal Struggle for Power * 2. Organized Crime and Corruption in Government * 3. Algeria's Creation of Terror * 4. Domestic Terrorism * 5. DRS Manipulation of the POLISARIO * 6. The Religious Right and the Christian Lobby * C. THE POWER OF WEAK NEIGHBORS * D. CONCLUSION * CHAPTER V - CONCLUSION * A. FINDINGS * B. POLICY IMPLICATIONS

An Introduction to Middle East Politics
An Introduction to Middle East Politics

Author: Benjamin MacQueen

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2013-03-30

Total Pages: 450

ISBN-13: 1446289761

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Middle East has undergone enormous change since 9/11, from the invasion and occupation of Iraq to the events of the ′Arab Spring′. An Introduction to Middle East Politics engages with questions of democratisation and political reform in the region. It covers: Historical Legacies; The Ottoman Empire, WWI, colonialism and the Cold War; nationalism and Islamist politics Authoritarianism in Egypt, Algeria and Syria; political changes in Iran; the politics of oil in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States; Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab States Intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq The recent uprisings in the Arab World, human rights, social movements and social media Each chapter opens with helpful learning objectives and concludes with study questions. Annotated bibliographies aid further reading, whilst the companion website provides links to additional material. This book will prove a fascinating read for both undergraduate and postgraduate students of Middle East Politics and related courses across Politics and International Relations.

Minority Rights, Feminism and International Law
Minority Rights, Feminism and International Law

Author: Silvia Gagliardi

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-05-26

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 1000071677

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Investigating minority and indigenous women’s rights in Muslim-majority states, this book critically examines the human rights regime within international law. Based on extensive and diverse ethnographic research on Amazigh women in Morocco, the book unpacks and challenges generally accepted notions of rights and equality. Significantly, and controversially, the book challenges the supposedly ‘emancipatory’ power vested in the human rights project; arguing that rights-based discourses are sites of contestation for different groups that use them to assert their agency in society. More specifically, it shows how the very conditions that make minority and indigenous women instrumental to the preservation of their culture may condemn them to a position of subalternity. In response, and engaging the notion and meaning of Islamic feminism, the book proposes that feminism should be interpreted and contextualised locally in order to be effective and inclusive, and so in order for the human rights project to fully realise its potential to empower the marginalised and make space for their voices to be heard. Providing a detailed, empirically based, analysis of rights in action, this book will be of relevance to scholars, students and practitioners in human rights policy and practice, in international law, minorities’ and indigenous peoples’ rights, gender studies, and Middle Eastern and North African Studies.

Perspectives on Western Sahara
Perspectives on Western Sahara

Author: Anouar Boukhars

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2013-12-18

Total Pages: 355

ISBN-13: 1442226862

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The ongoing conflict in Western Sahara is one of the more intractable legacies of European colonization in North Africa. Following the withdrawal of Spain, this territorial dispute escalated in 1975 into a war of independence between the Sahrawi people of the Polisario Front, who were backed by Algeria, and the states of Mauritania and Morocco. In 1976, the Polisario Front established the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which was not admitted in the UN but won recognition by a few states. After multiple peace efforts, the conflict reemerged in 2005 as the “independence Intifada.” Today, the Polisario Front controls about 20% of Western Sahara. At the heart of the conflict lie geopolitical interests and incompatible claims aggravated by the use of military force and decades of mostly unproductive diplomatic maneuvers by international bodies and regional or foreign powers. This thorough, impartial survey brings together some of the best experts on the Sahara question to provide a broad-based analysis of the problem, from a range of perspectives. Featuring new research, the chapters examine the roots of the conflict, its dynamics, and potential solutions. This groundbreaking text also addresses questions of law, human rights, natural resources from an analytical point of view. Contributed by scholars from North Africa, Europe, and the U.S., it is an essential contribution to the literature of Middle East and African studies.

Politics and Power in the Maghreb
Politics and Power in the Maghreb

Author: Michael Willis

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2014-06

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 0199368201

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The overthrow of the regime of President Ben Ali in Tunisia on 14 January 2011 took the world by surprise. The popular revolt in this small Arab country and the effect it had on the wider Arab world prompted questions as to why there had been so little awareness of it up until that point. It also revealed a more general lack of knowledge about the surrounding western part of the Arab world, or the Maghreb, which had long attracted a tiny fraction of the outside interest shown in the eastern Arab world of Egypt, the Levant and the Gulf. This book examines the politics of the three states of the central Maghreb--Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco--since their achievement of independence from European colonial rule in the 1950s and 1960s. It explains the political dynamics of the region by looking at the roles played by the military, political parties and Islamist movements and addresses factors such as Berber identity and economics, as well as how the states of the region interact with each other and with the wider world. -- Provided by publisher.

Amazigh Arts in Morocco
Amazigh Arts in Morocco

Author: Cynthia Becker

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2014-04-15

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0292756194

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In southeastern Morocco, around the oasis of Tafilalet, the Ait Khabbash people weave brightly colored carpets, embroider indigo head coverings, paint their faces with saffron, and wear ornate jewelry. Their extraordinarily detailed arts are rich in cultural symbolism; they are always breathtakingly beautiful—and they are typically made by women. Like other Amazigh (Berber) groups (but in contrast to the Arab societies of North Africa), the Ait Khabbash have entrusted their artistic responsibilities to women. Cynthia Becker spent years in Morocco living among these women and, through family connections and female fellowship, achieved unprecedented access to the artistic rituals of the Ait Khabbash. The result is more than a stunning examination of the arts themselves, it is also an illumination of women's roles in Islamic North Africa and the many ways in which women negotiate complex social and religious issues. One of the reasons Amazigh women are artists is that the arts are expressions of ethnic identity, and it follows that the guardians of Amazigh identity ought to be those who literally ensure its continuation from generation to generation, the Amazigh women. Not surprisingly, the arts are visual expressions of womanhood, and fertility symbols are prevalent. Controlling the visual symbols of Amazigh identity has given these women power and prestige. Their clothing, tattoos, and jewelry are public identity statements; such public artistic expressions contrast with the stereotype that women in the Islamic world are secluded and veiled. But their role as public identity symbols can also be restrictive, and history (French colonialism, the subsequent rise of an Arab-dominated government in Morocco, and the recent emergence of a transnational Berber movement) has forced Ait Khabbash women to adapt their arts as their people adapt to the contemporary world. By framing Amazigh arts with historical and cultural context, Cynthia Becker allows the reader to see the full measure of these fascinating artworks.

Western Sahara
Western Sahara

Author: Stephen Zunes

Publisher: Syracuse University Press

Published: 2010-08-04

Total Pages: 358

ISBN-13: 0815652585

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Western Sahara conflict has proven to be one of the most protracted and intractable struggles facing the international community. Pitting local nationalist determination against Moroccan territorial ambitions, the dispute is further complicated by regional tensions with Algeria and the geo-strategic concerns of major global players, including the United States, France, and the territory’s former colonial ruler, Spain. Since the early 1990s, the UN Security Council has failed to find a formula that will delicately balance these interests against Western Sahara’s long-denied right to a self-determination referendum as one of the last UN-recognized colonies. The widely-lauded first edition was the first book-length treatment of the issue in the previous two decades. Zunes and Mundy examined the origins, evolution, and resilience of the Western Sahara conflict, deploying a diverse array of sources and firsthand knowledge of the region gained from multiple research visits. Shifting geographical frames—local, regional, and international—provided for a robust analysis of the stakes involved. With the renewal of the armed conflict, continued diplomatic stalemate, growing waves of nonviolent resistance in the occupied territory, and the recent U.S. recognition of Morocco’s annexation, this new revised and expanded paperback edition brings us up-to-date on a long-forgotten conflict that is finally capturing the world’s attention.

Making Morocco
Making Morocco

Author: Jonathan Wyrtzen

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2016-02-19

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 1501704249

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"There is no question that the value of a detailed account of Moroccan colonial history in English is an important addition to the field, and Wyrtzen's book will undoubtedly become a reference for Moroccan, North African, and Middle Eastern historians alike." ―American Historical Review Jonathan Wyrtzen's Making Morocco is an extraordinary work of social science history. Making Morocco’s historical coverage is remarkably thorough and sweeping; the author exhibits incredible scope in his research and mastery of an immensely rich set of materials from poetry to diplomatic messages in a variety of languages across a century of history. The monograph engages with the most important theorists of nationalism, colonialism, and state formation, and uses Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory as a framework to orient and organize the socio-historical problems of the case and to make sense of the different types of problems various actors faced as they moved forward. His analysis makes constant reference to core categories of political sociology state, nation, political field, religious and political authority, identity and social boundaries, classification struggles, etc., and he does so in exceptionally clear and engaging prose. Rather than sidelining what might appear to be more tangential themes in the politics of identity formation in Morocco, Wyrtzen examines deeply not only French colonialism but also the Spanish zone, and he makes central to his analysis the Jewish question and the role of gender. These areas of analysis allow Wyrtzen to examine his outcome of interest—which is really a historical process of interest—from every conceivable analytical and empirical angle. The end-product is an absolutely exemplary study of colonialism, identity formation, and the classification struggles that accompany them. This is not a work of high-brow social theory, but a classic work of history, deeply influenced but not excessively burdened by social-theoretical baggage.

Endgame in the Western Sahara
Endgame in the Western Sahara

Author: Toby Shelley

Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.

Published: 2013-07-04

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 1848136587

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Why does this remote swathe of Sahara along the Atlantic seaboard concern the USA and Europe? Why does Morocco maintain its occupation? Why has the UN Security Council prevaricated for three decades while the Sahrawis live under Moroccan rule or as refugees? In this revealing book, Toby Shelley examines the geopolitics involved. He brings out: The little-known struggle of Sahrawis living under Moroccan rule to defend their identity. USA/European competition for influence in the Maghreb. The natural resources at stake -- rich fishing grounds, phosphates, and the prospect of oil. The reasons behind the UN failure to resolve what is now Africa's last decolonisation issue. The evolution of the USA-backed Baker Plan to settle the dispute. How the Western Sahara's history and future is tangled up with Moroccan--Algerian rivalry. The political development of Polisario, independence movement and state-in-waiting. Toby Shelley has talked to Polisario, Moroccan, Algerian and other diplomats. He has visited the territory and had access to opposition activists and Moroccan officials. In the refugee camps he interviewed the leadership of Polisario. What emerges is that the fate of the Western Sahara is being moulded by global and regional forces and that it is the Sahrawis under Moroccan rule who are best placed to influence that fate.