Introduction 1. International context: The Maghreb from 'Cold War' to 'War Against Terror' 2. Cain and Abel: The Western Sahara and the Struggle for Regional Supremacy 3. Morocco: Unstable and Counting the Cost of the Green March 4. The Alchemist's Dream: The Quest for Gold from the Desert Sand 5. Sahrawi Society under Occupation 6. The 'Years of Lead' 7. An Identity Forged by Resistance 8. 1999: Civil Society and Breaking Down the 'Wall of Fear' 9. Zero sum game: The Western Sahara and the UN Process 10. Polisario and the SADR: Guerrillas, Refugees and their State-in-Waiting 11. War: The Unbroken Chain 12. Endgame
Why does a remote swathe of the Western Sahara concern the USA and Europe? Why does Morocco maintain its occupation? Why has the UN Security Council prevaricated for three decades while the Sahrawis live under Moroccan rule or as refugees? This book examines the geopolitics.
Toby Shelley is a journalist with the Financial Times who reports on the Middle East, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, and has travelled to the Western Sahara for the newspaper. He was previously energy news editor for Dow Jones Newswires, and has also worked for Lloyd's List and Middle East International.
'In 1991, after 16 years of guerrilla war between Morocco and Polisario, the Western Saharan independence movement, both sides officially agreed that a referendum should be held in the territory to decide whether it should be independent or integrated with Morocco. The UN sent a mission to identify eligible voters. But the process was, and remains, a farce. Morocco will allow a referendum only if it can stack the votes by including Moroccan settlers and other tricks that ensure a vote for integration. The backing of its friends, America and France (on the same side for once), enables Morocco to stall indefinitely... Following the complex steps of the referendum minuet, Toby Shelley provides a detailed account of the region's history since 1975' - The Economist 'An excellent new book', Ian Black, The Guardian, 18 October 2004
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