A political history of the Western Sahara dispute

The thesis examines the political history of the Western Sahara issue in contemporary international relations. It traces the political history of the territory and its people from the fifteenth century until the present. The issue is examined in local, regional and international contexts. Thus at the local level the roles of Morocco and Algeria are stressed, while at the regional level the effects of the Western Sahara problem on the relations between North African states and the OAU, and vice versa, are highlighted. At the international level, the attitudes of the former European colonial powers - France and Spain - come under scrutiny; so too do the positions of the Arab states both individually and collectively via their League. The role of the superpowers and of the UN figure large also. The research suggests that to date state interest has consistently taken precedence over international law in the evolution of the dispute. Moreover, this appears unlikely to change in the immediate future, and the tension between the desire for preservation of the status quo and the right to self-determination of peoples is unlikely to be resolved in favour of the latter. (DX84628)