Among the rapid peace deals on the outgoing U.S. president’s agenda is an imposed “reconciliation” between Morocco and Algeria. Compared to the flashpoints in Ukraine and Gaza, their conflict has so far been fought through propaganda, not military means.
In Western Sahara, the only recurring hostilities are pinprick attacks by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front. These acts of resistance target Morocco’s, and initially Mauritania’s illegal occupation of the territory since 1975—a breach of international law. The annexation doubled the realm of King Mohammed VI, enabling the extraction of valuable mineral resources, often with European corporate partners. This land grab is maintained by the presence of 100,000 Moroccan soldiers.
For U.S. imperialism, controlling Western Sahara is strategically no less important than its projects in Ukraine or Israel. The territory forms the northwestern flank of Africa. In 1975, as Franco’s fascist regime in Spain crumbled, the new King Juan Carlos betrayed decolonization, handing the region to Morocco and Mauritania. An independent Western Sahara could have given the Soviet Union Atlantic access via its Algerian ally. Today, blocking Russian influence from the Sahel to Central Africa remains a key U.S. objective. The Trump family’s personal business interests—plans for a luxury Riviera in the territory—add a crude, personal incentive to this imperial calculus.
Algeria, a current Security Council member, boycotted the vote. Its government stated that Morocco’s only negotiating partner must be the Polisario’s provisional government, which many states recognize. The EU—led by France—pays only lip service to international law regarding Western Sahara, actively undermining it through economic activity in the occupied territory.
