Reagan's Strategy for North Africa Aggravated the Crisis in Western Sahara

Abstract

President Reagan gave a military boost to relations with Morocco, the likes of which had not been seen since the start of the Western Sahara conflict in 1975. The Republican president’s strategy was to strengthen his ally so that it might emerge victorious from the war that had begun with its occupation of the Spanish colony. Reagan was a staunch believer in the use of force to resolve international conflicts, all of which were viewed from the standpoint of confrontation with the USSR. He did not care about the evidence stacking up against his argument in this case. Little did it matter that the conflict in the Sahara showed no signs of belonging to the long list of proxy wars between the two powers. Reality was invented by creating alternative facts. In this article it will become clear how erratic the US Republican administration’s viewpoint was. The war in the Sahara should never have been seen as a link in the Cold War, but as a local conflict in a specific region of North-West Africa. Such thinking has prolonged this human drama for decades, making it one of the most enduring and longest-lasting wars today.