This signals the decline of the separatist movement, which Algeria has supported for reasons beyond just geography, including regional influence. This decline was not caused by a sudden decision or military force, but by a series of political, security, and diplomatic changes that turned the separatist cause into a burden for its supporters and eventually made it an issue for its rivals.
The question now is how regional and international shifts have reshaped the Polisario Front’s prospects, not whether it will end. Emerging in the 1970s as a code of insurgent legitimacy against colonialism amid changing global dynamics featured by the end of the Cold War and evolving concepts of sovereignty the Polisario’s decline has been characterized by secession and segregation. It has failed to become a viable political entity, remaining a “political refugee” influenced more by Algerian intelligence than local institutions, changing from a liberation movement into a closed, externally endorsed group without a true local base. Meantime, Morocco has regained control of its southern provinces, reintegrating them into the social and economic sectors through investments in infrastructure, seaports, renewable energy, and education, enhancing the ground reality over any conflicting political narrative.
