Sovereignty and the Western Sahara

Sovereignty and the Western Sahara

George Joffé argues that the Western Sahara conflict exposes a basic tension in how sovereignty is understood. Morocco bases its claim on historic sovereignty, while the Polisario Front bases its demand on a people’s right to self-determination. In his view the UN and the African Union have assumed that state and nation coincide and have avoided facing this contradiction.

Joffé traces Morocco’s claim to precolonial forms of allegiance to the sultan that nationalism later turned into a European-style territorial claim. He looks at how doctrines of intervention such as the Responsibility to Protect, US interventions and globalisation have weakened sovereignty and made it partly dependent on outside actors. He also identifies the rivalry between Morocco and Algeria for regional leadership, and the huge sums Morocco has invested in the territory, as obstacles to a settlement. He notes that international practice and current international law are on Polisario’s side.

He concludes that the dispute persists because a distinct Sahrawi nation exists, and that a lasting solution may need a wider North African political framework in which national sovereignty is less contested.

Full article

Read the full article on Taylor & Francis Online

Support our work