Small Wars Journal

A Long-Dormant African Conflict Draws Unusual White House Spotlight

Sun, 08/11/2019 - 10:08am

A Long-Dormant African Conflict Draws Unusual White House Spotlight by Dion Nissenbaum – Wall Street Journal

The world’s longest minefield stretches hundreds of miles through the Sahara, cutting a path through one of Africa’s quietest conflicts.

For nearly three decades, a few hundred United Nations soldiers have ensured that this 1,700-mile cease-fire line, which separates Moroccan soldiers from an outgunned group of Western Sahara militants striving for independence, has remained quiet.

To the U.N., this tiny peacekeeping mission is a success. But to the White House, it’s a failure, one that President Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, has zeroed in on as Exhibit A of the shortfalls of the U.N. and the international order it represents…

Read on.