Tuesday, January 29, 2013

The Unique Situation of Western Sahara

In preparation for the map quiz on Friday February 1st, a few of you have asked about the situation in Western Sahara and why it is classified as being an occupied territory. We do not have a dedicated week to examine politics in Western Sahara, so I want to direct your attention to an article published last year in one of The Economist's blogs about the current stalemate in the region. The article does not offer much in the way of new information, but does a good job of summarizing the issue.


The movement in Western Sahara during the 1970s could be considered an example of the nationalist revolutions that we have discussed thus far in class. The article also does a good job of highlighting the various accusations of political violence, including suggestions of one-sided violence (though it does not meet the threshold discussed in class. 

(image used under a creative commons license from Wikipedia)

For added fun, check out the comments. Unresolved contentious issues often lead to very strong arguments in an online forum about which side is "right."

Note: A version of this was written and published by me on a previous blog last year. 

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