The United Nations terminated the mission of its force known as the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) at midnight on October 31, 2026. Established in 1991 under the Settlement Plan, MINURSO was tasked with monitoring the ceasefire and organizing a referendum for self-determination—either through independence or integration with Morocco. The following day, the withdrawal of the mission’s personnel and equipment began, paving the way for the liquidation of its presence in the territory. This occurred after the UN Security Council failed to renew the mission’s mandate due to a disagreement between the United States and Russia.

The end of the MINURSO mission cannot be viewed in isolation from the shift in U.S. policy toward the Western Sahara issue during Trump’s term. His recognition of the Moroccan identity of the Sahara on December 10, 2020, and his assertion that “the establishment of an independent Sahrawi state is not a realistic option for resolving the conflict and that genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only possible solution” marked the pivotal moment that altered the structure of the Western Sahara issue file.

Thus, the conclusion of the MINURSO mission after 35 years cannot be interpreted merely as an administrative termination of a UN mission’s mandate resulting from a U.S.–Russia clash. Rather, it is part of a political process and an American approach to closing the Western Sahara issue in its old format—a colonialist conflict whose resolution was to be found through organizing a referendum for self-determination under international supervision. This has now been transformed into a file of a political conflict whose resolution lies in negotiated autonomy, with the U.S. as the primary guarantor of its outcomes, while marginalizing the United Nations and other international parties.

Consequently, America holds the pen in drafting resolutions related to the Sahara file, and Trump’s administration is pushing vigorously to end the old format and reframe the Sahara issue as a bilateral political conflict that it oversees, thereby blocking the path for other international actors.

Within this American trajectory, its latest draft resolution was presented to the UN Security Council. On October 30, 2026, it submitted a proposal aimed at altering MINURSO’s political framework by removing self-determination from its mandate and deleting the word ‘referendum’ from the mission’s name, changing it to MINOSO. It also sought to adopt the Moroccan autonomy proposal as the basis for the solution, while restructuring and downsizing the mission. These fundamental changes prompted Russia’s veto.

However, the Russian veto should not be reduced merely to defending the old formula of self-determination; it extends to the management of international politics. The American proposal did not simply seek to renew the mission or make adjustments within its charter; rather, it called for changing its political framework, name, function, and very purpose. This represents a shift in rules that Russia considers a matter for international consensus, not a unilateral imposition by America—which explains Russia’s strong objection.

The end of the MINURSO mission after 35 years is the result of a political upheaval in the structure of the Western Sahara issue, driven by a shift in America’s stance and Trump’s relentless effort—before the end of his term—to close the file of the issue in its old form in order to achieve his strategic ambitions in the Sahara and the region, viewing negotiated autonomy as the key.

In America’s hands, the Western Sahara issue has been a tool of colonialist struggle with Europe—until the Trump administration, in its first term, introduced a novel approach to penetrate the region and manage the issue. It adopted the autonomy proposal as a means for its political, economic, and military infiltration into the region through the Moroccan Sahara—the gateway to the Sahel and Africa, and an open door to the Islamic Maghreb. Politically, this is facilitated through its consulate, which will manage burning colonial files in the Maghreb, the Sahel, and the sub-Sahel; economically, through its colonialist companies that will oversee the plunder of the region’s unexploited resources; and militarily, by establishing a foothold for its military command in Africa, AFRICOM, alongside the periodic African Lion maneuvers in Morocco and neighboring countries. Additionally, the file is leveraged in the Abraham Accords aimed at integrating the Jewish entity into the region through comprehensive normalization.

The omens of this American penetration have begun to reveal themselves, and with them, the portents of catastrophe. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau announced that, in the context of Washington’s recognition of Morocco’s independent control over its Sahara, the U.S. government has decided to encourage American investments in the southern provinces of the Kingdom. The Moroccan Sahara has recently witnessed visits by trade delegations and growing interest from major American companies and investments supported by Washington. This year, a major investment agreement was signed in the city of Tan-Tan between Morocco and the American company GPM Holding, worth approximately 8 billion dirhams, to establish an industrial unit specialized in producing polysilicon for the solar panel industry. Furthermore, international and local reports have revealed that American trade delegations have conducted field visits to the region, expressing broad interest in investment opportunities in prospecting and clean energy projects, major ports such as the Atlantic port of Dakhla, and the infrastructure in southern Morocco.

Even more alarming are the military and security agreements and the American bases slated for construction on Moroccan soil to manage American colonialism in Morocco, the region, and Africa (as outlined in the U.S.–Morocco Roadmap for Defense Cooperation 2026–2036).

The termination of the MINURSO mission heralds a phase of American colonial infiltration through the gateway of the Sahara, following European acquiescence (Spain declared its support for the autonomy proposal in 2022, followed by France in 2025). Today, the United Nations and its international parties are being stripped of their tool, MINURSO, and the issue has ended up as a component of America’s foreign policy, managed through its diplomacy to serve its colonialist interests. Through its tainted recognition of the Moroccan Sahara, America has driven its stakes into Morocco and its Sahara, and now seeks to consolidate them. The governance void in Morocco has brought upon its people the evils of American colonialists.

One point that must be mentioned is the reaction of the Polisario Front, which has collided with the American wall amid European acquiescence and the alignment of both Morocco and Algeria with British influence—which supports the autonomy solution—leaving the Polisario Front with little room for maneuver. With the Algerian regime toning down its rhetoric, the likelihood of full-scale war remains low. What is more probable are skirmishes and tension in the border region, which may be met with American condemnation and a withdrawal of legitimacy.

It is the disbelieving Western colonialism, its scramble, and its conflict over the land of the Muslims. This rotten colonialist scenario would never have come to be, were it not for the vacuum of the state and ruling governance.