Western Saharan Conflict

<p>The last war of decolonization on the African continent the conflict in the Western Sahara has and continues to reflect patterns in international diplomacy. The conflict initiated when the Spanish withdrew from the territory was perpetuated by the Cold War and now continues in the context of the Global War on Terrorism. Following the Spanish withdrawal Algeria provided further aid to the insurgent group they supported during the Spanish decolonization and in doing so they permitted the development of the insurgent group the Polisario to develop into the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic. Through the course of the Cold War Algerian support for the Saharawi and US support for Morocco permitted the war to stalemate allowing time for the Saharawi to develop a relatively strong civil society. This paper will show that because of the intransigence that has developed between the two parties and the development of the Saharawi state in the relative near-term the conflict is likely to continue in its stalemated state and the Polisario will be unlikely to return to arms.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p>