The United States and Conflict in the Maghreb YAHIA H. ZOUBIR AND DANIEL VOLMAN Analysing the case of Western Sahara highlights the evolution of US policy towards the Maghreb; it demonstrates that American policy in the region has progressively shifted from reliance on multilateralism to a more pronounced unilateralism, although using the United Nations as an instrument to accomplish that objective. It also shows that the Bush Administration's espousal of the notion of a 'New World Order', and the Clinton Administration's 'aggressive multilateralism', reflected ideological discourse rather than a genuine attachment to a political strategy. At the end of the Cold War, President George Bush declared that 'force cannot be used to settle disputes' and that 'when consensus is broken, the world will respond,' with 'the United Nations playing the role dreamed of by its founders." According to Bush Administration officials, the UN's response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait 'has truly vindicated and rejuvenated' the role of the United Nations in resolving international conflicts. 2 President Bill Clinton came to office in 1993 publicly committed to supporting a strong UN leadership in the resolution of similar conflicts in other regions, not just in Somalia, but in Afghanistan, Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, and the Western Sahara. This article examines the role of the United States in the Western Sahara conflict. This analysis focuses on United States policy within the broader, regional context of the growing uncertainty in Morocco and the crisis in Algeria. The Superpowers and The Conflict The question of the Western Sahara is one of the longest running unresolved regional disputes, dating back to 1975. Yet, the ingredients for solving this issue have been present for many years. 3 The conflict has its roots in Spain's failure to abide by its commitment to hold a referendum on self- determination in its colony, as mandated by the UN and by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Under the terms of the Madrid Accords of Yahia H Zoubir is Associate Professor of International Studies at Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management, in Glendale Arizona, USA. Daniel Volman is Director of the Africa Research Project in Washington, DC. The Journal of North African Studies, Vol.2, No.3 (Winter 1997) pp.10-24 PUBLISHED BY FRANK CASS, LONDON