The Polisario Front in Western Sahara will recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by the end of 2008, Russian media reported Sept. 12. That recognition is largely meaningless, since the independence of Western Sahara, a territory still controlled by Morocco, is not widely recognized. But the Polisario Front could be taking advantage of a resurgent Russia to assist in gaining Western Sahara’s independence. According to the Russian media outlet Regnum, the Polisario Front parliamentary chairman Mahfoud Ali Beyba is consulting with Abkhazia’s ministry of foreign affairs to establish diplomatic relations between the front and Abkhazia before the end of the year. The move would make Western Sahara the third political entity, after Russia and Nicaragua, to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. But it would not mean that much to South Ossetia and Abkhazia, who are seeking broad-based international support from established nation-states as they break away from Georgia. The Polisario Front has been supported by the Soviet Union and Algeria in a rebellion waged to gain Western Sahara’s independence since 1973, first from former colonial power Spain, then Morocco (which took the territory over from Spain in 1976). The rebel group has used home bases in Algeria (where its leaderships resides) to wage a guerilla war against Moroccan military targets (outposts and formations) in Western Sahara, though a ceasefire in 1991 has considerably reduced those hostilities. A referendum on independence has been promised by Rabat since the 1991 ceasefire, though no serious moves have been made by the Moroccan regime to advance that agreement. Meanwhile, Rabat continues to consolidate control over the region, making the Polisario Front ever more powerless and isolated. But this dynamic could change. Should Moscow take up the Polisario Front’s struggle as a means to undermine the pro-American regime in Rabat, the rebel group could see its fortunes rise. Russia has maintained economic and defense relationships with Algeria, the Polisario Front’s staunchest patron. The Algerians are no real friends of the Moroccans and would not likely refuse the chance to support and rearm the Polisario Front (with Russian support) in order to destabilize its long-time antagonistic neighbor. Russian interests in working with the Polisario Front would be to destabilize a pro-American regime in a part of the world where the Russians have been absent in recent years. Russia’s intervention in Georgia demonstrated its return to major-power status, and its recent military maneuvers in Venezuela, combined with Nicaraguan support for South Ossetia and Abkhazia, have demonstrated that Russia is quite capable of touching America’s own backyard. The Polisario Front’s recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia is not a foregone conclusion. A lot could change before the end of the year. Even if diplomatic relations are established, they will not be the kind of formal state-to-state ties that the Georgian separatists seek. But the front’s move could give Russia an opportunity to destabilize American interests in yet another part of the world.