Focusing mainly on self-determination for the territory may have excluded other possible solutions to the conflict. Samuel J. Spector has criticized the UN's "tendency to ignore Morocco's strategic interest in the territory and historical rights." Anna Theofilopoulou discusses how the United Nations allowed each side to erode and derail the process, rather than "developing and sticking to a strategy designed to tackle head-on the difficulties in dealing with this conflict." Michael Rubin, writing in "The Journal of International Security Affairs", believes that Moroccan rule of the Saharwi people is the best way for the area to remain stable, free from terrorism and will provide a better quality of life. Jacob A. Mundy, writing in the "Mediterranean Quarterly" in 2004, described how while the United Nations was attempting to avoid a conflict similar to East Timor, they were ironically creating the setting for a very similar situation.