U.S.-led talks on Western Sahara highlight structural colonial legacies and regional power dynamics
Original framing: “US hosts new Western Sahara talks amid deep divergences” — Africa News
The conflict has deep roots in 19th and 20th-century European colonialism, with Spain, France, and later Morocco asserting control over the territory. The 1975 Green March and Moroccan annexation were part of a broader pattern of post-colonial land grabs in Africa, with the U.S. and France playing key roles in legitimizing Moroccan control.
The Western Sahara conflict is not merely a diplomatic impasse but a legacy of European colonialism and ongoing neocolonial alliances. The U.S.
-led talks, while framed as a diplomatic breakthrough, serve to legitimize Moroccan expansionism and obscure the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination. Indigenous Sahrawi perspectives, historical patterns of colonial land grabs, and cross-cultural anti-colonial movements all point to the need for a decolonial resolution. A just path forward requires international recognition of Sahrawi sovereignty, support for indigenous land rights, and a shift from Western-led diplomacy to African and UN-led mediation. Only through such systemic change can the structural injustices of the past be addressed and a sustainable peace be achieved.