LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Western Sahara Conflict: Territories
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Western Sahara can be named the last African colony. When the Spaniards withdrew from Western Sahara in 1975, the country found itself occupied by another foreign power; the Moroccans. According to the Moroccan government, their occupation of Western Sahara is legitimate. The words of consent, they claim, can be found in the Madrid agreement of November 4, 1975. They maintain that through this agreement parts of Spanish Sahara rightfully became Moroccan territory. Further, Moroccan officials assert that the Madrid agreement was recognised by the UN and approved by the Jemaa council (the assembly of the people's representatives).
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In Western Sahara, total victory is impossible and total defeat is unthinkable for the Moroccan government and the Polisario Front. In such a situation, both sides should, if they are self-interested rational actors, search for a middle-of-the-road solution. The two obvious compromise options for Western Sahara are either sharing the territory or splitting it up. Both sides... have rejected the latter. Besides setting an ugly precedent for the international community, a mini-Saharan state would be severely disadvantaged in terms of its viability, which is in no one's interests.
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The conflict in the Western Sahara has dragged on for more than three decades. Under international pressure, particularly from the UN, Spain announced its intention to hold a referendum in the Spanish governed Sahara by 1975. The outcome of the referendum was expected to grant independence to the ‘Territories’.
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The Western Sahara conflict has proved to be more than just another decolonization issue. The struggle in the territory has been lasting and will remain to be so for the foreseeable future. The current status quo is held in place by an unusually strong and coherent set of three factors: first, the interests at stake are small and little international attention is therefore devoted to the conflict; second, historical relations between Morocco and Algeria form a heavy burden on the issue; and third, the international community does not wish to engage and contribute to a solution, or is not able to at the moment.
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Western Sahara's economy is centred around nomadic herding, fishing, and phosphate mining. Most food for the urban population is imported. All trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan government. The government has encouraged citizens to relocate to the territory by giving subsidies and price controls on basic goods. These heavy subsidies have created a state-dominated economy in the Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara, with the Moroccan government as the single biggest employer.
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The United Nations have been directly involved in the Western Sahara conflict since 1988, and initially reached promising results in making the parties agree to a referendum over the future of the territory. The UN engagement has ... proved to be impotent over the last decade, as the Moroccan side has not been interested in implementing the agreement. The UN Security Council however yesterday decided to extent its Sahara mission, MINURSO, for another two months. MINURSO was established in 1991 to organise the referendum.
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