[President Trump bribed Morocco into normalizing relations with
Israel by turning the US into the only country in the world to
recognize Morocco’s annexation of Western Sahara, and thereby
plunging an already volatile region deeper into crisis.]
[[link removed]]

TRUMP’S ILLEGAL MOROCCAN BRIBE COULD THROW NORTH AFRICA INTO CHAOS
 
[[link removed]]


 

Alexander Bertschi Wrigley
December 14, 2020
Responsible Statecraft
[[link removed]]


*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
* [[link removed]]

_ President Trump bribed Morocco into normalizing relations with
Israel by turning the US into the only country in the world to
recognize Morocco’s annexation of Western Sahara, and thereby
plunging an already volatile region deeper into crisis. _

Supporters of the Sahrawi people's rights demonstrate in Malaga,
Spain on November 28. On December 10, President Trump recognized
Morocco’s illegal annexation of the Western Sahara in exchange for
Morocco’s normalization of relations with Israel., Facebook photo

 

The Trump administration’s decision
[[link removed]] to
recognize Moroccan control over Western Sahara in exchange for
Moroccan normalization of relations with Israel marks a shameful day
for America’s commitment to international law, human rights, and
diplomacy.

With this decision, the United States becomes the only country in the
world to recognize Morocco’s unilateral annexation of Western Sahara
and further isolates itself on the international stage through its
wanton disregard of the international norm of self-determination.
Further, while Trump may claim this is an essential move toward peace
in the Middle East, in fact this decision threatens to plunge an
already volatile region deeper into crisis.

Located along the Atlantic Ocean and sandwiched between Mauritania and
Morocco, Western Sahara is a former Spanish colony and current
disputed territory. Roughly 70 percent of the territory is under de
facto Moroccan control with the remaining 30 percent controlled by the
Polisario, a local Sahrawi independence movement backed by Algeria and
recognized by 39 other nations and the African Union as the Sahrawi
Arab Democratic Republic.

Large-scale conflict between Morocco and the Polisario began in 1975
following Spain’s withdrawal from the region. After a ceasefire in
1991, a U.N. peacekeeping force, MINURSO, was established with a
primary mandate [[link removed]] to
“organize and ensure a free and fair referendum” on independence
for the territory. Yet to date, no referendum has been held, and more
than 100,000
[[link removed]] refugees
remain in camps located in the southern Algerian desert, with an
additional 20,000 [[link removed]] in
Mauritania.

The International Court of Justice, in a major advisory ruling
[[link removed]],
supported this right for a free and fair referendum on
self-determination in Western Sahara. A multitude of subsequent U.N.
General Assembly
[[link removed]] and Security
Council
[[link removed]] resolutions
reaffirmed the right to self-determination for the Sahrawi people.

As the United Nations notes at the start of each resolution
[[link removed]] on
Western Sahara, there is an “inalienable right of all peoples to
self-determination and independence.” The Trump administration’s
decision to unilaterally disregard this international norm dangerously
undermines international law and the ability of peoples around the
world to determine their own political status.

This decision not only subverts the power and authority of
international law, but it also flies in the face of the long-held U.S.
policy in support of a just and lasting political solution between
Morocco and the Polisario.

Washington has consistently held
[[link removed]] the position that
Morocco and the Polisario must come together to determine a mutually
acceptable political solution to put an end to their conflict. In
fact, from 1997 to 2004, former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker
served as the U.N. Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy to Western
Sahara and consistently pushed for a referendum on independence. The
decision by a lame-duck president to disregard this policy damages
U.S. credibility by calling into question Washington’s commitment to
other long-held American positions elsewhere in the world.

Trump’s pronouncement also threatens to upend regional peace and
security at an extraordinarily volatile time. While President
Trump crowed
[[link removed]] on
Twitter that this decision was “a massive breakthrough for peace in
the Middle East,” in reality it is the opposite.

This unilateral decision will fuel recently renewed fighting between
Morocco and the Polisario, which last month led to the collapse of the
29-year ceasefire. At a time of rising tensions in the Maghreb, this
is a decision that will likely have far-reaching consequences for
stability in the region, deeply complicate U.S. relations with
Algeria
[[link removed]],
and stifle any chance for the Sahrawis to determine their own
political future.

Undermining international law, disregarding long-standing U.S. policy,
and contributing to the risk of regional conflict just to add a veneer
of legitimacy to the Abraham Accords is a deal not worth making. As
one of his first moves as president, Joe Biden must walk back this
rash decision to recognize Moroccan control of Western Sahara.

At the same time, the Biden administration should work to ensure that
Morrocco remains a close and valued American ally. The issue here is
the recognition of the importance of following international law and
maintaining global norms. Regardless of whether the people of Western
Sahara choose autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty or independence, the
decision must remain theirs alone.

[_Alexander Bertschi Wrigley is an Emerging Expert on security sector
assistance in the Maghreb with the Forum on the Arms Trade and holds
an MA in International Security with a focus on North Africa from
Sciences Po Paris. He can be reached on twitter @BertschiWrigley
[[link removed]]._]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
* [[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web [[link removed]]
Submit via email
Frequently asked questions [[link removed]]
Manage subscription [[link removed]]
Visit xxxxxx.org [[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]