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Mauritania
Index
From the 1960s through 1987, Mauritania's foreign policy was
directed toward protecting the country's national sovereignty
(see Foreign Relations
, ch. 4). Mauritania at first sought and
received French support to prevent Morocco from attempting to
annex the country. Then, after Morocco recognized Mauritanian
sovereignty, Mauritania distanced itself from France and
cultivated ties with various Arab countries, including Algeria
and Morocco, in hopes of avoiding regional disputes.
Yet by 1976, Mauritania was again involved in regional
conflict. Along with Morocco, Mauritania, as party to the Madrid
Agreements, claimed a portion of the Spanish Sahara (now
generally called Western Sahara). As the struggle of the
Polisario (see Glossary)
for sovereignty in the Western Sahara
escalated, it became clear that Mauritania's armed forces were
incapable of either asserting its territorial claims in the
Western Sahara or defending its own territory. Mauritania sought
assistance from France and Morocco in its struggle to defend
itself against Polisario guerrillas. After relinquishing its
claims in the Western Sahara in 1978, Mauritania again sought
foreign military support from France and also Morocco
(see Consolidation of Power
, ch. 1).
As the Western Sahara war continued into the mid-1980s,
Moroccan advances forced Polisario guerrillas into Mauritanian
territory. In response, Mauritania placed troops along its
northern border. In 1987, when Mauritania found itself unable to
defend its 2,500-kilometer border with the Western Sahara, the
country feared it would be dragged back into a conflict from
which it had extricated itself nine years earlier.
Data as of June 1988
War in the Western Sahara
From the 1960s through 1987, Mauritania's foreign policy was
directed toward protecting the country's national sovereignty
(see Foreign Relations
, ch. 4). Mauritania at first sought and
received French support to prevent Morocco from attempting to
annex the country. Then, after Morocco recognized Mauritanian
sovereignty, Mauritania distanced itself from France and
cultivated ties with various Arab countries, including Algeria
and Morocco, in hopes of avoiding regional disputes.
Yet by 1976, Mauritania was again involved in regional
conflict. Along with Morocco, Mauritania, as party to the Madrid
Agreements, claimed a portion of the Spanish Sahara (now
generally called Western Sahara). As the struggle of the
Polisario (see Glossary)
for sovereignty in the Western Sahara
escalated, it became clear that Mauritania's armed forces were
incapable of either asserting its territorial claims in the
Western Sahara or defending its own territory. Mauritania sought
assistance from France and Morocco in its struggle to defend
itself against Polisario guerrillas. After relinquishing its
claims in the Western Sahara in 1978, Mauritania again sought
foreign military support from France and also Morocco
(see Consolidation of Power
, ch. 1).
As the Western Sahara war continued into the mid-1980s,
Moroccan advances forced Polisario guerrillas into Mauritanian
territory. In response, Mauritania placed troops along its
northern border. In 1987, when Mauritania found itself unable to
defend its 2,500-kilometer border with the Western Sahara, the
country feared it would be dragged back into a conflict from
which it had extricated itself nine years earlier.
Data as of June 1988
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