In Donald Trump’s final months in office he arranged a series of “diplomatic quid pro quos” through which the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco established diplomatic relations with Israel. The United States agreed to sell F35 fighter jets and state-of-the-art drone technology worth $23 billion to UAE while Sudan saw itself removed from the list of states sponsoring terrorism.

Most controversially the United States also became the first major power in the world to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the illegally annexed Western Sahara — a move which flies in the face of numerous UN resolutions and a ruling from the International Court of Justice. Yet since taking up his post in January, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has refused to be drawn on whether the new administration will reverse Trump’s decision.

Covering an area the size of Britain, Western Sahara is Africa’s last colony — that is, what the United Nations designates as a “non-self-governing territory.” The Saharawi people were denied independence in 1975 after former colonial power Spain reneged on its promise of a referendum on the country’s future status, instead signing the tripartite Pact of Madrid (backed by the United States but with no basis under international law) which carved up the territory between Morocco and Mauritania.