Sovereignty and the Western Sahara

Abstract

The Western Sahara conflict, now in its 35th year, is a conflict that challenges concepts of territorial sovereignty and self-determination and of the alleged linkage between them. It is also a manifestation of the struggle for regional hegemony between Algeria and Morocco and, by extension, a struggle by both regional powers to capture the attention and support of Europe and the United States. Amidst these major concerns, the interests of the Western Saharans themselves are being increasingly ignored, a situation that raises further questions about popular legitimisation of sovereignty in the contemporary world order.