Can Morocco succeed in having the Polisario Front listed as a terrorist organization by the United States? As tensions escalate in the Sahara and the Sahel, Rachid Benlabbah, a Moroccan academic and specialist in Sahara and Sahel studies at the University Institute of African, Euro-Mediterranean, and Ibero-American Studies in Rabat, examines the legal, political, and security dynamics of Morocco's diplomatic offensive against a militarized Polisario and a weakened Algeria.
Amid political shifts in the United States with the Republicans back in power, growing calls are emerging for a reassessment of U.S. policy on the Western Sahara conflict. Pressure is mounting to bolster Morocco’s position, with bold demands to reconsider the Polisario Front’s legitimacy and to terminate the UN’s MINURSO mission.
Setting aside the strong reactions to Spain and France’s support for Morocco’s position on the Sahara issue, Algeria and the Polisario, in a tone of resignation, merely «regretted» the Trump administration’s reaffirmation of Moroccan sovereignty over the territory.
As MINURSO approaches its 35th anniversary, its relevance in the Western Sahara issue is being called into question. Originally established to organize a referendum that never materialized, the UN mission now seems to be relegated to a purely administrative role. In a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape, marked by the growing recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, what remains of MINURSO? Bachir Dkhil, a founding member of the Polisario who has since returned to Morocco,