Post date: Nov 03, 2016 6:48:4 PM
This article discusses Hillary Clinton's involvement in the Western Sahara. First, it discusses how the Clinton Campaign accepted large donations from Morocco, when it was ruled by King Mohammed VI. As a result of this, Clinton made decisions that benefited Morocco during her time as Secretary of State, like limiting restrictions on US foreign aid in Morocco. The article discusses "Clinton’s 2012 support of a rider on the U.S. foreign aid bill permitting foreign aid to be sent to the Western Sahara [that] arguably legitimized Moroccan occupation of territory and depopulated the Sahrawi Arabs." This relates to Spadola's discussion of the Moroccan take-over of Western Sahara in 1974 during the Green March. Spadola argues that the Green March was a call to Islam issued by the state, or, more specifically, by King Hassan II. Hassan II "sought to summon a body of mass subjects emergent only from nationalists' stagings of the monarch onward" (50). In other words, Hassan attempted to unify the Moroccan people in order to gain political and economic power. However, Spadola also states that after the march, many volunteers felt disappointed at the persistence of conflict over the region and the lack of compensation. Therefore, the Green March resulted in unity as well as difference in Morocco. In relation to Clinton's actions, one can expand this model to an international level: Morocco's claim to Western Saraha is still contested today, as exemplified by the competing calls of various parties (Clinton, the EPA, Muhammed IV, the Moroccan government) as to the legitimacy of Morocco's claim/call. Both the Green March and its effects (including Clinton's relationship with Morocco) have created competitions for power and unity.