In the carpeted halls of Washington, pragmatism is displacing ideology. The urgent call from the Trump Administration to bring Morocco and the Polisario Front to the table this week is not a mere exercise in routine diplomacy. Following the stagnation of talks in Madrid last February, the White House has decided to take control of the timeline. The official goal is to seek a ‘fair and lasting solution’, but in the corridors of the U.S. capital, the predominant aroma is not that of peace, but of natural gas. The chronological coincidence is too perfect to be ignored by risk analysts. Just when the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP) — Africa’s most ambitious energy project — is preparing to enter the operational phase after Ramadan, the United States is pressuring to stabilize the northwest flank of the continent. With an investment of $13 billion and the capacity to pump up to 30 billion cubic meters annually from the Niger Delta to the coasts of Spain and Italy, the TSGP is not just a pipe; it is the new artery of energy security for a Europe desperate for alternatives to Russian supply. The role of Algeria in this equation is fundamental and explains why Washington has summoned them as key observers. Algiers not only leads the management of the project through Sonatrach, but it is also the historical supporter of the Polisario. For Algeria, the pipeline running through Niger is a ‘strategic alliance’ that consolidates its status as a continental energy hub. However, for capital and gas flows to be constant, the region needs a stability that the Western Sahara conflict, entrenched for half a century, constantly threatens. For its part, Morocco comes to the table with a renewed position of strength. The October resolution of the UN Security Council, which calls for negotiations under the Moroccan autonomy proposal, is the framework that Washington is using to push through. The Alaouite Kingdom knows that, in the new infrastructure map drawn by the TSGP, its control over the Atlantic coast and its internal stability are assets that are rising in valuation in the capital markets that will finance the final segment of the project. The silence surrounding the meeting in Madrid and the absolute secrecy demanded for Monday’s meetings in Washington suggest that high-level counteroffers are being discussed. Massad Boulos, Trump’s trusted man for the region, has made it clear that the commitment is to a ‘better future’. In terms of the Realpolitik that characterizes the current White House, this often translates into the fact that resolving territorial conflicts is the necessary toll for major investments in transportation and energy infrastructure to move from being paper projects to operational realities. Africa is preparing to open its energy corridor, and the pieces on the Sahara chessboard are being moved by hands that look more at the pressure gauges of the pipelines than at the maps of former colonies. The regional integration promised by Algeria and Nigeria depends on a peace that Washington seems willing to impose, or at least to buy, before the first cubic meter of Nigerian gas touches European soil.
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