The struggle for the Western Sahara is often analyzed as a conflict of two seemingly irreconcilable nationalisms - Moroccan and Western Saharan. Among the Western Saharan nationalists, the Frente Polisario was virtually the only political grouping from 1976-2004. This paper analyzes Polisario's nationalist discourse during its formative years, from 1973-1976, not in the context of Moroccan/Western Saharan nationalist conflict, but in the context of inter-Sahrawi political contestation. Utilizing a collection of little-used Polisario materials from this period and seeking to reintroduce an important political context which is often overlooked, this discourse is analyzed both as an interesting case of internal struggle during decolonization and an important chapter in the evolution of Sahrawi nationalism. Viewing from the present, it is easy to see the ascendency of Polisario on the Sahrawi political scene as a forgone conclusion. Indeed, the often quoted summary lines from the 1975 Report of the UN Visiting Mission to the Spanish Sahara put forward an image of a Sahrawi people united behind the Frente Polisario. A full reading of the document, however, reveals a fierce internal contest over the future of the emerging Sahrawi nation. Polisario's domestic competition came in the form of the Partido de Unión Nacional Saharaui (PUNS), a movement supported by the Spanish which operated through established social and political groupings. The Visiting Mission noted opposing demonstrations, acts of sabotage, violence, and even the burning of a PUNS building. Ideologically, the PUNS and Polisario conflicted on several issues such as the role of armed struggle, the relationship to be retained with Spain, and the vision of future Sahrawi society. Various external parties and powers were also exerting themselves, resulting in an explosive political situation. Polisario's nationalist discourse during this period has a distinct character. Several features of this discourse are explored, such as the rooting of the Sahrawi nation in history, the role of heroes, martyrs, and battlefield defeats, and the positioning of the Sahrawi nation amid the worldwide liberation struggles of the time. Beyond nationalist conflict with Morocco and Cold War politics, this paper contends that the early struggle over the representation of the emerging Sahrawi nation is engrained in Polisario's discourse and that this has implications for the subsequent evolution of Sahrawi nationalism. By problematizing the PUNS/Polisario conflict in the context of Sahrawi national construction, a more nuanced view of the emerging Sahrawi nationalism is attempted.

Since 1975 the international dispute over the former Spanish colony of the Western Sahara has persisted between Morocco and the Polisario Front, which continues to seek an independent state. This paper discusses the performance of oral poetry and song in Hassaniyya Arabic spanning from Western Sahara to Sahrawi refugee camps in southwestern Algeria. It highlights the influence of these expressive genres since 1975 in articulating projects of nationalism and resistance and dealing with ambiguity on both sides of the divide in a prolonged period of political uncertainty. Public performances of poetry and song express ideas of nationhood and human rights and serve as a critical mode of communication, social dialogue and political critique within the greater Sahrawi diaspora, especially through the widespread circulation of cassettes and radio and internet broadcasts. By drawing upon the symbolic and popular appeal of an indigenous art form in colloquial Arabic, Sahrawi poets have adapted traditional genres to modern political realities to reframe contemporary understandings of citizenship and exile. The paper argues that salient poetic tropes emerge from and contribute to larger discourses of Sahrawi identity, including nostalgia for nomadic values, state-mandated erasure of tribal affiliation in the camps, and veneration of Sahrawi women and their role in state-building processes. The findings are based on ethnographic research conducted in transnational Sahrawi communities in southern Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Algeria from 2006-09.

Since assuming control of Western Sahara in 1976, Morocco has become economically and politically invested in the forced integration of that country, recognized by the United Nations and virtually the entire international community as non-self-governing territory. A major aspect of Moroccan integration policies has been encouraging large numbers of Moroccan — now estimated between 200,000 to 300,000 people — to settle in the territory, either permanently or for shorter-term residence. Not counting Morocco’s sizable security and military presence in Western Sahara, civilian settlers have arrived either as a result of the state’s campaign to induce and entice residency in what the government refers to as the ‘Saharan Provinces,’ enhanced in part through heavy government subsidies, an important inducement given the struggling Moroccan economy of recent decades. This settlement campaign, combined with the mass exodus of nearly half of the indigenous Sahrawi population in the immediate aftermath of the 1975 invasion (now primarily living in refugee camps in Algeria), Moroccan settlers now constitute the majority population in the occupied Western Sahara. Despite the importance of this influx of Moroccan settlers, their role in the evolution of the conflict over the fate of the territory is little understood. Western Sahara continually posts some of the highest voter turnout rates in Moroccan elections, yet there are growing signs that the political allegiance of many Moroccan settlers is more ambiguous than might be thought possible. In this article, we will attempt to untangle the little understood demographics and identity politics at play in the Moroccan occupied Western Sahara. Understanding the politics of settlement and settlers in Western Sahara not only provides significant insight into the conflict’s historical evolution and current impasse, it suggests future possibilities for resolution.

The Western Sahara has been the longest-running territorial dispute on the African continent. Yet, it also remains one of the most contested areas of identity. The ethnic fabric of Sahrawi identity formation is diverse and complex, evolving from possibly primordial origins but characterized by conflictual enterprises. It has been argued that over the last thirty-six years, Sahrawi ethnonationalism has either largely been instrumentalized by or fused for diverging political interests. Thus, there are questions over the essence of 'Sahrawiness.' This paper will present how laborious the task may be in identifying the formation of Sahrawi ethnic identity. It will also show how this ethnopolitical process has been used to present the views of both those who seek independence for the Western Sahara and others who are content in a union with the Kingdom of Morocco. The paper will argue that the issue over the Western Sahara may lie not upon the question over the origins of Sahrawi ethnonationalism but on a more deeply embedded culture of an aversion to foreign intrusion and a unique semblance of 'traditional' liberty and a complex decentralization of authority. The paper describes that the prime identifier that gave the Sahrawis a certain semblance of ethnic cohesion may have been an early aversion to the colonizer’s invasion of their Muslim land. Perhaps not an exact correlation, but it does reflect the arguable modern perception by Muslim clerics and leaders of western powers encroaching upon their holy lands. The section of the Spanish Sahara details the progression of Iberian colonialism and the reasons why the Sahrawi were able to live relatively independent of Spanish control until the independence of Morocco. It describes the difference encountered among Sahrawi society and the changes for the Sahrawi collective as the Spanish and French ended their first formal rebellions. It will also briefly provide insight to the gap between perceived Moroccan authority over the Western Sahara and the lack of Sahrawi tribal recognition of its monarchical rule. Subsequently, I will describe the rise of Sahrawi nationalism after the independence of Morocco. I will outline the different components that led to a national awakening and conclude that categorizing the complexity of Sahrawi nationalism is difficult and requires further investigation through constructivist and instrumental approaches.