What is the reason for the surprise resignation of the German Horst Köhler from his job as special envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Sahara? For Algeria, which voiced its speculations through a Polisario media outlet, American pressures are behind Köhler’s abrupt exit.
After the UN Security Council adopted on April 30 resolution 2468 on the Sahara with an overwhelming majority, a resolution in which the US played a crucial role consolidating Morocco’s stand, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita held lately intensive meetings with US officials in Washington-DC.
It seems that Morocco is dissatisfied over the latest developments at the Security Council regarding the Sahara issue. This is apparent from the statement made lately by spokesman for the Government Mustapha El Khalfi who said that Foreign Affairs minister Nasser Bourrita has briefed the Govt....
In diplomacy, artful ambiguity can be a useful tool, but it can also be a dangerous trap when clarity would have been the better choice.
The United States allegedly has a policy on Western Sahara, but what is it?
Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale has started a visit to Morocco this Monday, for talks with Moroccan officials on the development of the Morocco-USA partnership, as well as on regional issues, given the key role played by Morocco in the region in terms of peace and...
This is a companion article to one, co-authored by my colleague Ed Gabriel and I, concerning recently declassified information on the history of US policy on Western Sahara which makes public, for the first time important elements of Western Sahara history that we both have direct knowledge of,...
The United States was interested in the Western Sahara conflict in the 1990s and the beginning of 2000s, according to a declassified document, submitted in 2009 by Morocco’s ambassador to Washington. The latter has conducted a series of actions to convince the Kingdom into abandoning the...
An incredible document detailing the United States involvement in ongoing disputes over the Western Sahara has been declassified and made public by the State Department. The document outlines several key historical moments in U.S.
As Morocco is expecting the UN Security Council to adopt a new resolution on Western Sahara, the US Department of State released its 2018 report on human rights. Commenting on the human rights situation in the province, the US department kept a moderate tone.
Washington has commended Morocco’s constructive participation in talks on the Sahara held under the aegis of the United Nations and the UN Secretary General’s personal envoy for the Sahara Horst Köhler.
In December, John Bolton said he was frustrated that the Western Sahara conflict «has not been resolved». In January, the US National Security Advisor did not comment on the Security Council’s review of the conflict.
Only few days after the diplomatic victory scored by Rabat with the adoption by the European Parliament with a large majority of the Morocco-EU Farm Agreement that covers the Sahara, the U.S.
The 2015 US Finance Act authorized USAID to contribute to development projects in the Moroccan-controlled Sahara. The 2019 one, which is being currently adopted, could be amended.
It is a famous advertising line that Morocco was the first country to recognize the British American colonies (thirteen), at the heist of the American revolutionary war in 1777, which culminated in the signing of the Treaty of Marrakech (also called Treaty of Friendship) on the 28th of June 1786...
US magazine, International Policy Digest, published Wednesday a long story on Moroccan-Algerian strained relations that hamper the integration of the Maghreb region and tried to analyze the ins and outs of this situation.
Members of a delegation of the U.S. Conference of Western Attorneys General who visited Morocco lately have stressed the need for continued U.S. support to help Morocco resolve the Sahara conflict, describing Morocco as “an exporter of peace”.
After they suffered setbacks at the European Parliament, which voted at the level of committees for the renewal of the EU-Morocco farm & fisheries deals recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara, the Polisario separatists, relayed by Algerian media, rushed to distort the remarks made...
As someone who has closely followed the Western Sahara conflict for the past twenty years, it is apparent to me that the United States has only two choices to address the issue. Either it can maintain the status quo, as it has pretty much done since 2008 (i.e.
