I congratulate any collective of people that can maintain a semblance of governance free from corruption and terrorism upon its own population. Based on this metric, as described, I pray that somaliland can continue to thrive and prosper, as with the rest of the world.
They say that corruption is pretty bad there actually. I realized after I published this it is also not clear if the corruption rating for Somalia includes Somaliland but regardless their corruption is of their own tax dollars not ours.
For the region their internal security is incredible though.
Good article. I have always been sympathetic to Somaliland and wrote about it back in July 2008. The 2008 article was slightly updated and cross-posted to Substack in 2023:
My own view is that Trump doesn't care about Africa and I am okay with that. Whenever the US government takes a keen interest in our continent, it is often for the wrong reasons. I would rather Trump Administration ignores the continent than wreck it.
However, if Trump recognizes Somaliland then that would be a great thing indeed. At least, US recognition will deter Egypt and Turkey from trying to use the chaotic war zone called "Somalia" to destabilize Somaliland, which has done so much to build itself up
Yeah Africa is certainly better off being primarily left alone by the US and time has borne that out quite clearly. The other upside with Somaliland is frankly that it's significance to US grand strategy has much less to do with controlling Africa and much more to do with global maritime interests and reinforcing our interminable presence in the Middle East.
Historically though, Somaliland has been more in Egypt's sphere of influence whereas Somalia was connected to the Omani/Zanzibari Empire. It's likely the case that Egypt would be one of the states more likely to get on board with recognizing Somaliland, especially considering growing Turkish influence across the broader region.
On the contrary, Egypt has historically opposed international recognition for Somaliland. Whenever the issue came up at AU meetings, Egypt was quick to shut it down. When the African Union fact-finding mission recommended recognition of Somaliland in 2005, Egypt joined Kenya in shutting it down. Egypt is currently siding with Somalia against the agreement signed between Somaliland and Ethiopia granting the latter access to sea ports in exchange for recognition of the former as a sovereign state
Anyway, everyone did oppose it, I suppose only time will tell if we can get them to come around. It's also expected that Kenya may be amenable to Somaliland independence.
Something to note is back then Somalia was under a transitional government and now they have their full permanent government and it doesn't work any better and there is no indication it will in the future, so there was a much stronger argument for seeing if they can pull things together in 2005 than there is in 2025.
Also Egypt is under entirely different government, though I suppose their powerful military apparatus has a lot of stability.
African politics is as interesting as subtitled movies to America, let alone Somaliland which will be even less known than Transnistria, so I appreciate you writing this quality article.
There is indeed a shortage of good writing about Africa, especially as it relates to American policy, and most of the "experts" besides a few are Atlanticist hacks.
I think Somaliland is at least slightly better known than Transnistria, but hard to say. I suppose Transnistria has been shown as being Russian controlled [which isn't really true] on a lot of Ukraine maps so perhaps that has caused people to learn about it.
Thanks though, that's kind of a strange compliment but it's true that though I hate US policy I would probably be a very proficient government researcher
I congratulate any collective of people that can maintain a semblance of governance free from corruption and terrorism upon its own population. Based on this metric, as described, I pray that somaliland can continue to thrive and prosper, as with the rest of the world.
They say that corruption is pretty bad there actually. I realized after I published this it is also not clear if the corruption rating for Somalia includes Somaliland but regardless their corruption is of their own tax dollars not ours.
For the region their internal security is incredible though.
Good distinction that their corruption is from theirs, not our tax dollars
Good article. I have always been sympathetic to Somaliland and wrote about it back in July 2008. The 2008 article was slightly updated and cross-posted to Substack in 2023:
https://sharpfocusafrica.substack.com/p/republic-of-somaliland
My own view is that Trump doesn't care about Africa and I am okay with that. Whenever the US government takes a keen interest in our continent, it is often for the wrong reasons. I would rather Trump Administration ignores the continent than wreck it.
However, if Trump recognizes Somaliland then that would be a great thing indeed. At least, US recognition will deter Egypt and Turkey from trying to use the chaotic war zone called "Somalia" to destabilize Somaliland, which has done so much to build itself up
Yeah Africa is certainly better off being primarily left alone by the US and time has borne that out quite clearly. The other upside with Somaliland is frankly that it's significance to US grand strategy has much less to do with controlling Africa and much more to do with global maritime interests and reinforcing our interminable presence in the Middle East.
Historically though, Somaliland has been more in Egypt's sphere of influence whereas Somalia was connected to the Omani/Zanzibari Empire. It's likely the case that Egypt would be one of the states more likely to get on board with recognizing Somaliland, especially considering growing Turkish influence across the broader region.
On the contrary, Egypt has historically opposed international recognition for Somaliland. Whenever the issue came up at AU meetings, Egypt was quick to shut it down. When the African Union fact-finding mission recommended recognition of Somaliland in 2005, Egypt joined Kenya in shutting it down. Egypt is currently siding with Somalia against the agreement signed between Somaliland and Ethiopia granting the latter access to sea ports in exchange for recognition of the former as a sovereign state
Erdogan already shut down the MoU.
Anyway, everyone did oppose it, I suppose only time will tell if we can get them to come around. It's also expected that Kenya may be amenable to Somaliland independence.
Something to note is back then Somalia was under a transitional government and now they have their full permanent government and it doesn't work any better and there is no indication it will in the future, so there was a much stronger argument for seeing if they can pull things together in 2005 than there is in 2025.
Also Egypt is under entirely different government, though I suppose their powerful military apparatus has a lot of stability.
Very interesting read!
African politics is as interesting as subtitled movies to America, let alone Somaliland which will be even less known than Transnistria, so I appreciate you writing this quality article.
I almost exclusively watch subtitled shows đŸ˜‚
There is indeed a shortage of good writing about Africa, especially as it relates to American policy, and most of the "experts" besides a few are Atlanticist hacks.
I think Somaliland is at least slightly better known than Transnistria, but hard to say. I suppose Transnistria has been shown as being Russian controlled [which isn't really true] on a lot of Ukraine maps so perhaps that has caused people to learn about it.
Dude how many job offers have you gotten from the CIA/State Dep?
What a profound overview of the situation you've provided
none so far đŸ˜‚
Thanks though, that's kind of a strange compliment but it's true that though I hate US policy I would probably be a very proficient government researcher
I would be proficient to research beautiful actresses in foreign movies. I expect that job offer any moment....
I myself exclusively watch foreign TV shows lmao, my knowledge of beautiful Latina actresses is somewhat solid