Cold War Technologies, Global Fertilizers, and the Fate of Western Sahara
When, after years of geological and geophysical exploration, a phosphate mine was discovered at Bu-Craa in 1964, Western Sahara received renewed geopolitical attention. Several countries competing for the control of the world fertilizer market, including Morocco, Spain, France, and the United States, developed diverging strategies to gain control of the mineral.
The Western Sahara Conflict: Regional and International Dimensions
King Hassan II of Morocco informed the French press in December 1988 that he was willing to talk to the Frente Popular para la Liberacidn de Saguia el-Hamra y Rio de Oro, known as the Polisario Front, which had been waging a war of national independence during the previous 15 years.
“Seized of the Matter”: The UN and the Western Sahara Dispute
Since 1988, the United Nations has been actively involved in the Western Sahara dispute between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Western Saharan liberation movement known as the Frente POLISARIO.
Western Sahara, resources, and international accountability
The illegality of facilitating the exploitation of natural resources by an occupying power in nonself-governing territories is well-established in international law.
The taking of the Sahara: the role of natural resources in the continuing occupation of Western Sahara
The role of natural resources in the continuing ‘question’ of Western Sahara is not fully understood. In recent years, the development of the territory’s resources has been at issue in efforts to arrive at self-determination for the Saharawi people.