The Stalemate in North Africa ; U.S. Should Nudge Morocco and Algeria

Summary

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For more than 25 years, a little-known political stalemate in North Africa has forced thousands of refugees to live in desert camps. It is also home to one of the United Nations' longest and most obscure peacekeeping missions. Last week, a House International Affairs subcommittee held a hearing on the status of the area known as the Western Sahara. If the political stalemate over the Western Sahara is resolved, many believe that North Africa can turn the corner, dramatically improving the security, economy and political situation of the region.

The trouble started in 1975, when Spain decolonized the region and pulled out of the Western Sahara; Morocco then re-established its historical claim to the territory. In the Cold War environment of the day, a low-scale guerrilla war ensued between Morocco and a leftist separatist group, the Polisario Front. The Polisario was a Soviet-supported effort to destabilize America's Moroccan ally.

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Extract

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The Stalemate in North Africa ; U.S. Should Nudge Morocco and Algeria

With the military and financial backing of Algeria, Cuba and Libya, hostilities continued until the United Nations established a ceasefire and a peacekeeping mission in the territory...

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