O Caso Do Saara Ocidental

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O Caso Do Saara Ocidental Maria João Ribeiro Curado Barata IDENTIDADE, AUTODETERMINAÇÃO E RELAÇÕES INTERNACIONAIS: O CASO DO SAARA OCIDENTAL Dissertação de Doutoramento na área científica de Relações Internacionais, do Programa de Doutoramento em Política Internacional e Resolução de Conflitos, apresentada à Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra, sob orientação do Professor Doutor José Manuel Marques da Silva Pureza. Março de 2012 ii Ao meu sobrinho Pedro iii iv Agradecimentos Em primeiro lugar, quero agradecer ao meu orientador, Professor Doutor José Manuel Pureza, por uma orientação que teve a combinação ótima de liberdade quanto aos rumos a seguir e exigência elevada na discussão dos conteúdos que iam sendo produzidos. Quero agradecer também a todo o corpo docente do Programa de Doutoramento em Política Internacional e Resolução de Conflitos da FEUC – Professor Doutor José Manuel Pureza, Professora Doutora Maria Raquel Freire, Professora Doutora Paula Duarte Lopes e General Pedro Pezarat Correia – pelo que nestes quase seis anos propiciaram de discussão de várias questões críticas da maior relevância e de contacto com o que de melhor se faz a nível internacional em RI e nos Estudos para a Paz. Em relação aos espaços de discussão e troca de ideias nos seminários do Programa e noutras instâncias mais informais, o meu agradecimento estende-se a todos os meus colegas do Programa. Agradeço ainda críticas, comentários, questões v e sugestões feitas especificamente ao meu trabalho por Pedro Pinto Leite, Thomas Weiss, Navin Bapat e Tomas Baum. Um agradecimento às/aos funcionárias/os das bibliotecas do CES, da FEUC, Geral da UC, Nacional de Espanha, e do Centro de Documentação 25 de Abril, pelo profissionalismo, mas também por todos aqueles gestos de boa vontade e flexibilidade que fizeram a diferença no bom desenrolar de um trabalho que se baseou essencialmente em fontes escritas. Gostaria finalmente de fazer um agradecimento geral aos que têm trazido amizade e amor à minha vida, sem o que nada é possível. Um agradecimento especial à minha mãe e uma palavra de especial carinho ao meu sobrinho Pedro, a quem dedico esta tese. vi Resumo Esta tese pretende demonstrar que a autodeterminação constitui os selves que a reivindicam. Esta hipótese é articulada teoricamente nos termos do construtivismo da disciplina de Relações Internacionais (RI) e ilustrada empiricamente com o caso do Saara Ocidental. Por autodeterminação entende-se aqui, ao mesmo tempo, uma ideia geral de direito à liberdade dos povos e uma norma específica para a delimitação de comunidades políticas. A partir de uma revisão da literatura, identificam-se as principais tensões e contradições subjacentes à autodeterminação no sistema internacional, bem como as principais tendências na sua abordagem política e jurídica contemporânea. Feita esta revisão, entra-se em questões teóricas de RI propriamente, nomeadamente em dois debates centrais do construtivismo: o do papel das normas na conexão entre o sistema e o ator e o da construção das identidades. A partir deste enquadramento teórico, propõe-se que a questão mais convencional sobre ‘o que’ e ‘quem’ é um povo – questão central na literatura sobre autodeterminação e que vii remete para a literatura sobre nacionalismo e identidade nacional – seja reformulada na questão da emergência, constituição e reconhecimento de uma identidade corporativa, representativa de uma identidade coletiva e que assume um estatuto de ator no âmbito do sistema internacional. Uma assunção fundamental de todo este enquadramento é a de que o ator e o sistema se constituem mutuamente. Nesta perspetiva, entende-se aqui que os selves se constroem reflexivamente por referência às instituições e às normas do sistema. Esta conceptualização é aplicada ao caso do Saara Ocidental, através da análise do modo como aí se tem vindo a construir um projeto de independência política. Mostra-se como essa construção é significativamente informada tanto pela ideia geral como por uma norma mais específica de autodeterminação. Começa-se o estudo de caso por uma caracterização do conflito pela soberania do território do Saara Ocidental, a qual evidenciará a importância de se considerarem questões de identidade para compreender o estado de irresolução deste conflito e, portanto, também para se pensar a sua resolução. Depois, e a partir de uma análise qualitativa de fontes primárias e secundárias, avança-se para uma interpretação do significado do conceito de autodeterminação na identidade política saaráui que aspira à independência política, bem como os seus efeitos normativos na construção de uma identidade corporativa saaráui nos seus diversos componentes – instituições políticas, delimitação territorial e composição populacional. Para finalizar, tecem-se algumas considerações sobre as implicações desta análise quanto à questão da resolução do conflito, incluindo uma crítica da atualmente preponderante abordagem realista à sua resolução, a qual se tem centrado numa viii ontologia de atores institucionais, negligenciando questões de normas e de identidades. Em conclusão, mostra-se que o caso empírico ilustra e evidencia a pertinência do argumento teórico e mostra-se também que só a consideração de questões de identidade e de normas internacionais – nomeadamente o modo como o self saaráui incorporou a ideia e a norma de autodeterminação – permite compreender a resiliência do projeto de independência política saaráui e a complexidade do conflito em causa. ix x Abstract This thesis aims to demonstrate that self-determination constitutes the selves by which it is claimed. This hypothesis is developed within the discipline of International Relations (IR) constructivism, and is empirically illustrated here with an analysis of the case of Western Sahara. Self-determination will be understood to refer to the idea that people have a right to freedom, and at the same time will be seen as a specific way of bounding political communities. A literature review will identify the main tensions and contradictions within this concept in the context of the international system. There will also be an analysis of the main contemporary political and judicial trends related to its interpretation. After this the thesis will consider specific theoretical IR issues, with a particular focus on the role of norms in the connections between actor and system and identity construction. It is proposed that the more conventional question about what and who constitutes a people – which is central to self-determination literature and refers also to literature about nationalism and national identity – can be xi reformulated as a question about the emergence, constitution and recognition of a corporate identity that represents a collective identity and that assumes an actor’s status within the international system. A fundamental assumption of all this is that actor and system are mutually constituted. From this perspective, it can be understood that selves are reflexively constructed with reference to a system’s institutions and norms. This conceptualization is applied here to the case of Western Sahara through an analysis of how the Sahrawi people have been constructing their project of political independence. The thesis shows how that project is informed both by the general idea of self-determination and by the more specific norms that are usually related to it. The case study begins with an examination of the conflict over the sovereignty of the territory of Western Sahara, so that the importance that questions of identity to be considered in making sense of this conflict can be identified. After a qualitative analysis of primary and secondary sources, there is then an attempt to interpret what self-determination means in the context of the Sahrawi identity that aspires to political independence. An analysis follows of its normative effects in the construction of a corporate Sahrawi identity in terms of political institutions, territorial and population bounding. The implications of all this, with regard to concerns about conflict resolution, will be considered. In this context there will be some criticism of the prevailing realist perspective, which has generally assumed a ontology of institutional actors and has tended to neglect questions of norms and identities. xii The empirical case examined here demonstrates the pertinence of the theoretical argument, and also shows that only when questions of identity and international norms are taken into consideration – in this case the question of how the projected Sahrawi self incorporates the idea and the norm of self-determination – can one understand the resilience of the Sahrawi political independence project and the complexity of the current conflict. xiii xiv Índice Agradecimentos ............................................................................................................................... v Resumo .......................................................................................................................................... vii Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... xi Índice ............................................................................................................................................. xv 1 Introdução ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 A Autodeterminação Constitui os Selves que a Reivindicam ................................................
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