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When is a Country Not a Country?
.. .. . when no-one gives a toss till they discover it has oil.
There are quite a few tracts of land on this planet we share that are denied the full dignity of nationhood and we all have our favourites, not to mention our political reasons for noticing them. (Yes, this is only one example and I know there are many more but I’m only espousing the cause of this one.)
Our thanks this week goes to McDonalds for bringing to the attention of anyone who cares the plight of one such territory, even if it was done inadvertently. Those nice, politically astute, burger people highlighted the non-existence of a huge swathe of desert by omitting it from a map on a child’s toy. People complained and it made the news. Way to go McDonalds!
The non-country in question is Western Sahara and it drops on down into the Sahara desert from its border with southern Morocco. Next door also to Algeria and Mauretania. Europe started the problem to begin with when in 1884 Spain annexed this bijou little property with an ocean view and went on to declare it as one of its provinces in 1934. In the 1960s the population started to agitate for independence like the rest of Africa, but no-one much cared other than Morocco, Mauretania and Algeria.
1975 was a big year for all concerned. Spain agreed to organise a referendum to determine the territory’s future, but the King of Morocco organised a different method of dealing with the thorny issue and ordered the “green march” in which 300,000 of his citizens did precisely that, they marched into Western Sahara and took up residence. The result was that Spain relinquished its claims; Morocco took two thirds of the land and Mauretania the other third; all very civilised except that he Western Saharans weren’t really consulted.
Another complicating factor was the Polisario Front which had Algerian support. They wanted a slice of the action too, rather a large slice, and felt frozen out by the other players. In 1978 Mauretania gave up its claim on the bottom bit of the desert, and Polisario waged a guerrilla war on Moroccan interests until 1991, with the Algerians laughing up their sleeves at their neighbour Morocco.
Then came the promise of another referendum with greater international clout, but who should vote in it? The choice was to be between joining the northern neighbour and going it alone, but should the 300,000 “green marchers” of 1975 and their descendants participate?
Ping-pong continued to be played until 2003 when US Envoy James Baker devised a plan which the Moroccans rejected and there has been deadlock since.
And now McDonalds have delivered another insult to the people of Western Sahara by dropping their homeland from the map. The up side to all this however (and yes, there is an up side) is that now YOU know about the situation, YOU have privileged invitation, and YOU can bore the pants off everyone at the office Christmas party in a few weeks time.
PS. Western Sahara may have oil offshore, lots of it, and that’s a lot closer to the US and UK than is Iraq. Mmmm.
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18 Comments
well organized, well disciplined, informative, and entertaining. as usual. excellent work, Rask.
That one was excellent again!
It works the other way round, too. A country may not be a country because it has oil, as Kurdistan.
Very illuminating and thought provoking. I love reading your political articles.
Wonder when the first McDonalds will be built there? Augh!
Thanks,
Clay
Great, interesting article – keep up the nice work!
Blessings.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
Great article, keep it up.
Excellent article!
Where DO you find these obscure bits of information? You’re like the Encyclopedia-Irelandia for Pete’s sake!! I like Clay’s comment best!!
Great article, HORRIBLE browser-hijacking ad. Seriously, it blacks out your site for 2 minutes while it loads “content”. Hair care before politics, i guess!!
Rask, I think this article is one of your best. You have a fantastic view of the world and are able to present it in a way that is unique yet very precise and well written. You may well be the best writer on Triond at this point.
Intelligently written. And I agree with ronron. I’m getting darn tired of these ridiculous ads coming in the way of my reading well written articles. It’s starting to peeve me off..lol! But seriously, your knowledge is mind-boggling. You’re like a savant of geography..lol!
I don’t know that McDonald Build there!!even i don’t know that is there is something like this exist !!Thanks for you research.
Oh, I can feel an invasion – sorry, liberation – coming on!
Another great article. Very informative.
Points for pointing this out to a lot of ignorant people.
Shame they seem to think it’s about the McDonalds Corporation Marketing Departement.
It’s interesting to think how many people think that that this may be a fairly unique situation and also that the only conflicts in the world, at the moment, are in the middle east.This is far from the truth. It’s about time the media dropped “the dead donkey” stories and took and reported the stories of the countries that do not affect our economies, but where PEOPLE are struggling to survive, minute by minute. Sorry too take up so much space on your outstanding article, Rask, but you hit the “raw nerve”.
From a resident of England, one of the most historically invasive countries in the world for commercial gain, and in the 1890s Boer War, the inventor of the concentration camp.
Hi, Rask, first time reader. I agree with C Jordan that conflicts like this deserve more press, and you’ve done it. Thanks, it was so informative. I have friends who served some of these Western Saharans with humanitarian assistance. There is a community of these people, a large community, that fled their country and set up a camp in the desert just over the border in Algeria. With the political situation unresolved, this camp became a permanent desert community. So sad.
I am bemused as to why such a valuable piece of information is sitting on Purpleslinky.
Thanks for the info, Rask, you amaze me with your knowledge.