UK human rights groups have raised alarms over Morocco’s latest tourism initiative in Western Sahara, framing it as a covert operation to consolidate control over the disputed territory. The drive, promoted as an economic boost, is viewed through my lens as a classic strategic pivot: leveraging soft power to harden occupation. From a military intelligence perspective, this move mirrors playbook tactics in contested zones, where infrastructure and civilian integration precede permanent sovereignty claims.
The threat vector here is not immediate kinetic action but long-term erosion of Polisario Front legitimacy and UN mediation efforts. Logistics analysis reveals a pattern: new resorts and transport links reduce reliance on military checkpoints, making dissent harder to track. For hostile state actors, this is a template for grey-zone annexation.
UK groups are correct to be alarmed; the hardware of tourism masks a software of control. The intelligence failure would be to dismiss this as mere development. It is a chess move, and the opposition is already losing pieces.
