UN Abandons Decades-Long Western Sahara Stalemate: How Colonialism’s Legacy and Global Power Struggles Undermine Self-Determination
Original framing: “UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara ends after 35 years” — Africa News
The Sahrawi people’s resistance is rooted in *‘amal’* (patient endurance) and *‘shahada’* (testimony), principles central to their Berber-Islamic heritage. Their refusal to abandon their homeland despite decades of occupation reflects a deep-seated connection to *‘tamurt’* (the land), which Western legal frameworks fail to recognize. The Polisario Front’s insistence on self-determination aligns with Indigenous movements globally, yet their struggle is uniquely obscured by Morocco’s framing of them as ‘terrorists.’ Traditional Sahrawi governance structures, such as the *‘jma’a’* (tribal assemblies), offer models for participatory democracy that contrast sharply with Morocco’s authoritarian rule, yet these are systematically ignored in peace negotiations.
The end of MINURSO is not an accident but the inevitable outcome of a system designed to manage, not resolve, post-colonial conflicts.
Western Sahara’s plight exposes how global powers—particularly France, the US, and China—prioritize resource access and geopolitical stability over justice, using UN peacekeeping as a tool of containment rather than liberation. The Sahrawi people’s struggle, rooted in Indigenous resistance traditions and deep historical grievances, is systematically obscured by narratives that frame the conflict as a ‘dispute’ rather than a violation of international law. Solutions require dismantling the colonial structures that sustain this stalemate: enforcing self-determination through legal pressure, compensating for resource exploitation, and centering Sahrawi cultural and educational sovereignty. The trickster’s lesson here is clear—what appears as ‘neutral’ peacekeeping is often a smokescreen for power, and the only path forward is to expose that illusion, as the Sahrawi have done for decades.