The Irredentist Appeal in Morocco and Mauritania

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SHE MAURITANIAN QUESTION in Moroccan politics is an instructive example of the bewildering fusion of familiar and unfamiliar factors confronting the student of the developing nations of Africa and Asia. Handicapped by the lack of reliable information and estranged by cultural obstacles, the Western observer may feel some relief on finding what appears to be incontrovertible, if undesirable, evidence of European political behavior. Such a conclusion in the case of Moroccan irredentism, however, is probably superficial and very likely drawn from a characterization of the new nation that is potentially misleading. The purpose of this article is to examine and clarify the growth of an irredentist issue in Moroccan politics, and to draw some tentative conclusions applicable to emerging political systems in similar stages of development. Without considering the justification of the many irredentist claims advanced by rapidly evolving nations, it is immediately apparent that irredentism has played an important role in their politics. Problems of Kashmir, West Irian, Goa, and Mauritania regularly intrude into international affairs with violent effect, and are sources of alarm and tension in the internal politics of the countries concerned. However, it is neither the recognized presence nor the persistence of irredentist problems that requires consideration, but rather the play of the irredentist cause in the internal politics of a new nation. Politics of the emergent nation have been characterized by an inability to shift from issue to issue, to reorient opinion toward new questions, and to handle several complex questions simultaneously. There are serious limitations, arising from both material and pcychological considerations, on both the number and the difficulty of the problems that can be resolved in a reasonable time by the emergent system. In theory such a limit probably exists for every nation, but is very likely much lower in a developing political system. Given a relatively inflexible system and a citizenry generally unresponsive to complex questions, the role of the irredentist issue in a new nation becomes clearer. An examination of this role in internal affairs also helps explain the great importance attached to many other international problems. The irredentist question in Moroccan politics, as in many new nations, has served to create a national identification and to revive nationalist claims to pre-eminence. In the emergent system the irredentist cause is easily communicated. The difficulty, if not the impossibility, of resolving such a problem gives it prolonged propaganda value. The irredentist question appeals strongly to patriotic fervor already aroused in the struggle for independence, encouraging nationalist solidarity in the face of factional trends. The irredentist question is suitable for these purposes because it is generally remote from the lives of the citizens, but at the same time it is easily magnified to revive memories of the struggle and to justify renewed sacrifice of the kind demanded in the struggle for independence.