A recent U.N. Security Council resolution expands the growing momentum for Morocco's sovereignty claims over Western Sahara, but the continued dispute over the territory will obstruct any Moroccan-Algerian rapprochement and will limit Morocco's ability to develop some industries there because of EU trade restrictions. On Oct. 31, the U.N. Security Council approved a resolution stating that "genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty could constitute a most feasible solution" for the dispute over Western Sahara, which pits Rabat's claims of sovereignty against a low-level local insurgency. The resolution passed with 11 votes in favor, including the United States. Russia, China and Pakistan abstained, while Algeria -- the main backer of the Polisario Front (PF), the militant group which claims to represent the indigenous Sahrawi people of Western Sahara -- did not vote in protest. In response to the passage of the resolution, the PF ambassador to the United Nations said the resolution...
