Modern Diplomacy report says Polisario’s era is over as UN backs Morocco’s autonomy plan

A new report by Modern Diplomacy described October 31, 2025, as a turning point in the long-running Moroccan Sahara dispute.

The report, titled “Polisario: The Game Is Over,”  and prepared by ex-MP and university professor Cherkaoui Roudani, noted that this milestone is the outcome of a decade of patient Moroccan diplomacy.

He stressed that UN Security Council Resolution 2797 leaves no ambiguity, establishing the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative as the sole framework for a lasting settlement and fully respecting Morocco’s sovereignty.

The report highlighted that Morocco has moved the Sahara issue away from ideological rhetoric, focusing instead on practical and realistic solutions that emphasize advanced territorial governance, stability, development, and regional cooperation.

The Polisario and its Algerian sponsors now face growing “diplomatic isolation, stripped of both legal and moral legitimacy.”

It added that the UN’s recognition reflects a new focus on facts on the ground, where stability and prosperity outweigh outdated political claims.

Key international players reinforced this consensus, recalled the source.

The United States, as the penholder, explicitly endorsed the Autonomy Initiative. France, the UK, and a vast coalition of Arab and African states have publicly supported Morocco’s territorial integrity.

Gulf countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, have strengthened ties by opening consulates in Dakhla and Laayoune, while over 40 African states and 23 European nations recognize the Moroccan plan as the only credible solution.

Russia and China, both aware of the Kingdom’s geo-economic weight in South-South trade and Atlantic energy routes, said the same source, abstained, “signaling cautious neutrality.”

The report warned that the Polisario now faces a triple erosion: political, geographic, and security-related.

Confined to Tindouf camps under Algerian control, cut off from any socio-economic dynamics, the Polisario has turned into a “destabilizing area in the Sahel, involved in arms trafficking, smuggling, and reportedly connected to Al-Qaeda and Daesh networks.”