The Impact of Donald Trump's Foreign Policy on Maghreb Countries: 'Western Sahara Dispute as a Case Study

Abstract

The subject of this study revolves around the Morocco and Western Sahara conflict under consideration of US foreign policy in the Maghreb region and how it affected this conflict specifically during the Trump administration. The work investigates this dispute exactly for being the oldest and the most neglected one in the international arena compared to the other global issues. The work's major goal is to clarify the driving force behind Donald Trump's shift. It is based on qualitative method, and analyses political discourses using governmental documents and media discourse analysis, focusing on Trump’s tweets regarding his announcement of the US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara territory. These analyses demonstrated and clarified how American foreign policy differs from one country to another among the Maghreb region, demonstrating biases in favour of Morocco in its decision-making with regard to the Moroccan-Western Sahara conflict. The analysis led to the conclusion that Morocco's normalization of relations with Israel is the primary factor behind Trump's recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over the Western Sahara.