While he spends most of time acting as a go-between for small arms traders, Sahara-Watch devotes a few minutes every month to reminding me I'm not the only Anglophone Western Sahara blog. He's written two posts recently that explore a compromise between independence and CORCAS's autonomy proposal: confederation.In the first post, Sahara-Watch wonders if a confederal system wouldn't work well for the Western Sahara. It would retain most of the benefits of independence without humiliating Moroccans and their king. Moreover, it would allay their fears that Western Sahara would become an Algerian satellite. It sounds good to me, but I don't think it'll work for two reasons. First, Morocco seems content with the status quo, and will only accept increased integration. Also, Polisario/SADR are reluctant to compromise because, at least by international law, they have all the moral and legal capital.
UPDATE: Apparently, I misinterpreted Arre's comments. Revisions to follow.
The second post draws attention to a comment made by Arre on the first. Among other things, Arre sets out the requirements for any successful autonomy proposal:
- Foreign commitment to prevent Morocco from subverting autonomy provisions, like Ethiopia did to Eritrea.
- Foreign money to support the new government and assuage Morocco.
- Enough devolution that the autonomy plan doesn't seem as unfair as CORCAS's
- A clause distinguishing Western Sahara from other separatist regions.
- Something that exercises Sahrawi self-determination, whether it be a referendum or a more legitimate CORCAS-style commission.
