The EU and the Western Sahara conflict: A difficult history

Abstract

The main objective of the article is to give an overview of the history of MINURSO, with a special attention to the role of EU nations played in the history of this mission. To achieve the stated goal, the author intends to give a short overview of the historical background of the conflict, how the UN got involved and how the mission was established. The article will show how the EU’s interest in the Northern region of Africa changed over the years, and how the region has become strategically important for the EU. The article gives an overview of the history of MINURSO and the role of EU nations in this history. The author intends to use qualitative and quantitative methods to show the role of these nations in the history of MINURSO. On the qualitative side the author intends to give a comprehensive overview of the participating nations, their interest in the region, and how their participation can be considered as their national interest or international obligation. To underpin this argument, the author will use quantitative methods in order to showcase the contribution of these nations. In the final part of the author will draw conclusion about the EU’s role.