The unresolved conflict between Morocco and the armed independence movement known as the Polisario Front over the disputed territory of Western Sahara still dominates strategic thinking, disrupts regional harmony and has an impact on military planning in much of the Maghreb. Surrounded by Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania, Western Sahara is almost entirely a poorly populated desert, albeit one with phosphates, offshore fishing and potentially oil. Since a 1991 ceasefire it is divided in two, with Morocco controlling the larger northeastern part from behind the security of a fortified and mined sand wall known as the berm and Polisario controlling the rest. A UN mission, MINURSO, observes a demilitarised zone either side of the berm, but has been unable to achieve what it was set up to do: organise a referendum on the future of the territory.
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