The protracted Western Sahara dispute, which has for over three decades pitted Morocco against the Sahrawi independentistas of the Polisario Front, epitomises the impotence of state-led conflict resolution efforts. The European Union (EU) has voluntarily remained withdrawn from the processes of transformation of this southern neighbourhood conflict, unable to surpass the politics of its inherent inter-governmentalism. This paper examines the alternative role played by local civil society organisations (CSO) in the transformation of the Western Sahara conflict.
It analyses the input of a methodologically-informed selection of Moroccan and Sahrawi CSOs with a view to identifying the potential of more effectual EU involvement in the dispute, notably through cooperation with the relevant CSOs. The findings of this study point to the overwhelmingly fuelling role played by local CSOs in this particular conflict, but identify ways in which more peace-building civil actors could be empowered by the EU. These CSOs are often of grass-root origins with little or no links to the establishments on both sides of the conflict.
Full article
The-EU-Civil-Society-and-Conflict-Transformation-in-Western-Sahara-The-Failure-of-Disengagement-by-Hakim-Darbouche-Silvia-Colombo-z-lib.org_Source: SSRN
Support our work
Support our work
Support our work with a one-off or monthly donation
AuthorHakim Darbouche & Silvia ColomboYear2010Pages32LanguageEnglish
Share via
Related resources
The Western Sahara Dispute: A Cautionary Tale for Peacebuilders
The UN and MINURSO have succeeded neither inconducting a referendum nor in…
Western Sahara as a Hybrid of a Parastate and a State-in-Exile: (Extra)territoriality and the Small Print of Sovereignty in a Context of Frozen Conflict
Within the liminal universe of parastates, what makes Western Sahara/SADR…
The Front Polisario Verdict and the Gap Between the EU’s Trade Treatment of Western Sahara and Its Treatment of the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Morocco’s control over Western Sahara and Israel’s control of the West Bank…