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

Received: 2 August 2022    Accepted: 2 September 2022    Published: 16 September 2022
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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.

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 10, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.hss.20221005.13
Page(s) 284-289
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Reagan, Hassan, Morocco, Sahara, Polisario, War

References
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  • APA Style

    Domingo Garí. (2022). Reagan's Strategy for North Africa Aggravated the Crisis in Western Sahara. Humanities and Social Sciences, 10(5), 284-289. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20221005.13

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    ACS Style

    Domingo Garí. Reagan's Strategy for North Africa Aggravated the Crisis in Western Sahara. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2022, 10(5), 284-289. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20221005.13

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    AMA Style

    Domingo Garí. Reagan's Strategy for North Africa Aggravated the Crisis in Western Sahara. Humanit Soc Sci. 2022;10(5):284-289. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20221005.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.hss.20221005.13,
      author = {Domingo Garí},
      title = {Reagan's Strategy for North Africa Aggravated the Crisis in Western Sahara},
      journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
      volume = {10},
      number = {5},
      pages = {284-289},
      doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20221005.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20221005.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20221005.13},
      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.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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    AB  - 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.
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Author Information
  • Geography and History Department, University of La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain

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