By Brahim Mokhtar Buyema, Director General for Asian Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Former Minister of State, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
The international conference entitled “The Alliance to Prevent a Great War,” organized by the World Civilizations Initiative Research Center, was held at the Meyra Palace Hotel in Ankara on 18–19 July 2026.
UWI will present the speeches held on the conference during the coming days.
The conference, which featured presentations by speakers from Azerbaijan, Belarus, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Japan, Russia, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States, was attended by approximately 200 distinguished invited guests.
Ministers, members of parliament, ambassadors, retired generals, scholars, politicians, diplomats, military officers, and experts examined the question of the “Alliance to Prevent a Great War” from a wide range of perspectives.
Below, we present the speech of Brahim Mokhtar Buyema. The title was set by UWI.
Distinguished guests and participants,
It is for me an honor and privilege to be part of this remarkable audience as guest of DÜNYA-MER.
I am coming in representation of a people who has suffered for the last 50 years the atrocities of an unjust war of occupation perpetrated by Morocco, our neighbor from the north.
The Saharawi people has suffered and continue to suffer attempt of annihilation, forced exile, plunder of their natural resources and numerous other mistreatments.
I have mentioned all that at the commencement of this short remark to show that wars, big or small can only bring death, suffering, destruction and misery whenever they happen.
That’s why this conference on Alliance to Prevent a Great War is of paramount importance and comes at a right time, bearing in mind the current international situation where the international law and the multilateral system are continuously violated and where impunity prevails.
As the distinguish audience well know, in today’s world the use of force has become a norm and not an exception and I am not referring here to the Middle East alone, No, it happens almost everywhere in Europe, Latin America, Africa and elsewhere.
What is happening in many countries of those continents (local conflicts, aggressions, illegal occupation, etc.) are, if not resolved, the ingredients that might be the spark to detonate a Great War.
The International law, international humanitarian law, the UN General Assembly and Security Council Resolutions and the decisions of many other international bodies are constantly violated and ignored or selectively used to suit the interests of the big players. What is right for Ukraine is wrong for Western Sahara.
In my humble opinion to prevent a Great War it is imperative and urgent to:
1) Return to the Multilateral System,
2) A comprehensive Reform of the UN Organs, particularly the Security Council,
3) Resolution of all local conflicts by the enforcement of the international law and legality.
4) Prioritize Dialogue and negotiations as main tools to reach appropriate, just and acceptable solution to any dispute or conflict.
These are essential requirement in order to avoid a World disaster and the eventual destruction of our planet.
From my country, the Polisario Front continues its legitimate liberation struggle on the basis of the need to respect and implement the more than one hundred UN Resolutions calling for our inalienable right to self-determination, as the last colony in Africa.
As long as conflicts like this one and many others remain unresolved, and the continuation of the permanent conflict of the big powers for the Global control of the World natural resources, the threat of a Great War will continue to hover over our heads.
Before I conclude these brief remarks, I would like to thank very much our friends from DÜNYA-MER for organizing this great initiative and for having invited us as well as for their solidarity with our cause.
I wish great success for our deliberations.
Thanks very much.