Short description
Toby Shelley examines prospects for the last colony in Africa. Once Spanish Sahara, now controlled by Morocco, the Western Sahara is thinly populated but has great potential wealth in phosphates, fishing and perhaps oil. Global and regional forces act out a destiny that pays scant regard to the Sahrawi people.
Long description
Why does a remote swathe of the Western Sahara concern the US 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? This book examines the geopolitics and reveals: * The little-known struggle of Sahrawis living under Moroccan rule to defend their identity * US/European competition for influence in the Maghreb * The rich natural resources at stake - fishing grounds, phosphates, and the prospect of oil * The reasons for the UN failure to resolve Africa's last decolonisation issue Toby Shelley has visited the territory and talked to both opposition activists and Moroccan officials. He has interviewed the Polisario leadership in the refugee camps. He shows how the future of the Western Sahara is being moulded by global and regional forces and how the Sahrawis are best placed to influence that fate.
Review
'In 1991, after 16 years of guerrilla war between Morocco and Polisario, the Western Saharan independence movement, both sides officially agreed that a referendum should be held in the territory to decide whether it should be independent or integrated with Morocco. The UN sent a mission to identify eligible voters. But the process was, and remains, a farce. Morocco will allow a referendum only if it can stack the votes by including Moroccan settlers and other tricks that ensure a vote for integration. The backing of its friends, America and France (on the same side for once), enables Morocco to stall indefinitely... Following the complex steps of the referendum minuet, Toby Shelley provides a detailed account of the region's history since 1975' - The Economist 'An excellent new book', Ian Black, The Guardian, 18 October 2004
Table of contents
- Acknowledgments Chronology Foreword
- Jose Ramos Horta, Foreign Minister of East Timor
- Introduction
- International context
- The Maghreb from 'Cold War' to 'War Against Terror' US ambitions for the Maghreb Jealous France and post
- colonial Spain
- Cain and Abel
- The Western Sahara and the Struggle for Regional Supremacy Changing interests in a changing world The supporting players
- Morocco
- Unstable and Counting the Cost of the Green March Economic costs versus political benefits
- The Alchemist's Dream
- The Quest for Gold from the Desert Sand Oil Phosphates Fisheries Iron and other minerals
- Sahrawi Society under Occupation The demographic fog Economic development
- grand plans, grim reality
- The 'Years of Lead'
- An Identity Forged by Resistance
- Civil Society and Breaking Down the 'Wall of Fear'
- Zero sum game
- The Western Sahara and the UN Process The settlement plan
- From ceasefire to deadlock Sidelining the Sahrawis Baker tries again
- Polisario and the SADR
- Guerrillas, Refugees and their State
- in
- Waiting Political evolution within the movement The structure of Polisario's state
- War
- The Unbroken Chain
- Endgame