Western Sahara’s Unlearned Lessons

Western Sahara’s Unlearned Lessons

Dennis Jett, a retired US ambassador, uses Western Sahara to show what happens when states pursue their own interests and ignore international principles: the problem becomes entrenched and is handed to a UN that lacks the means to solve it. He traces the conflict from Spain’s withdrawal in 1975 and Morocco’s takeover, which went ahead despite the International Court of Justice finding no Moroccan sovereignty over the territory, through the war with the Polisario Front, the 1991 ceasefire and the referendum that MINURSO never held.

Jett describes how Moroccan settlement in the territory, the sand berm and its minefields, and the 2007 autonomy plan strengthened Morocco’s position, and how Polisario’s decision in November 2020 to end the ceasefire raised the risk of renewed war. He draws on UN reports, Trump’s 2020 recognition of Moroccan sovereignty, criticism from James Baker and John Bolton, and a comparison of US statements across administrations, arguing that Washington has tried to have it both ways.

He draws three lessons: international law is applied selectively, great-power politics shields the stronger party, and inconsistent US policy stands in the way of a settlement. He is pessimistic about the prospects for self-determination and suggests that the cost of the UN mission be shifted to Morocco and Algeria.

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