Create a New State- For Real, Please Read!

Recently I became engrossed by the concept of de facto states. The most successful one, I found, is Somaliland. Here is an argument for recognition of Somaliland’s independence and a call to action.

The world community is made up, obviously, of nation states, with power also held by international organizations and big companies, depending on if you by into neo-liberalist theory. But the structure of the international community, it seems to me, is dangerously lacking in the ability to accept reality.

Somaliland is a de facto state, a state not recognized by the world community but nevertheless functional. It seeks recognition in order to sustain a modest economic boom and to assist itself in international development. This (long, sorry) post will

• Give an overview of the history of Somaliland from 1960 to the present (this information mostly comes from the Global Policy Forum articles to which links are provided below.)
• Briefly describe the current situation in Somaliland, and its successes
• Name several negative factors of Somaliland, as well as my response to them.
• Explain why it is in the interest of the United States and the world to recognize this state.
• Provide links to sites with more information on Somaliland if you’re interested. (If this post is too long, just look at the links, and you’ll find all a mention there.)
History 1960-1991
When Britain pulled out of its colony of British Somaliland, the colony declared independence and was internationally recognized. About a week later, they united with the newly independent colony of Italy. The two became Somalia.

According to the Somalilanders, the merger was a failure because the South took advantage of the North. (I’m not sure as to the truth in these claims; I don’t actively disbelieve them, but lots of cultures claim persecution at some point.) The people of Somaliland (I think they’re predominantly of the Ishaq) weren’t pleased with the union, and there was an attempted military coup in 1961, but it obviously failed.

While Somalia was a representative state, Mohammad Egal, from the Northwest (Somaliland) became vice president for a couple of years to help unite the country. Upon Siad Barre’s coming to power in, I think, 1969, he was jailed, with a six month exception in 1975, until 1982.
History from Siad Barre On
Siad Barre, not happy with opposition to his rule in the Northwest, leveled Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. In 1991, a council of tribal elders, businessmen, intellectuals, etc. declared independence and named an interim president. There was a civil war for several years, but since then, peace has been reestablished, Hargeisa has been rebuilt without international help, Egal was elected and reelected in monitored, fair elections, and, upon his death in 2002, the republic smoothly passed power onto his vice-president Kahin. In 2001, a referendum was passed with 97% of the vote, actually very fairly. It is important to note that the Sanaag and Sool regions, less interested in Somaliland independence, largely boycotted the vote, but even if all eligible non-voters voted against the constitution (and independence) a large majority would still have ratified the constitution.
Somaliland today- Stability
Somaliland has a lot of weapons. I’ve been researching Somaliland without really keeping track of my sources for months now, so I’m not sure where I got this statistic- I think from some blog in Somaliland or a pro-Somaliland site, but it said there is or was one weapon per household. However, since 1996, the region has become very orderly. Hargeisa, it is reported, safer than many capital cities. The Sanaag and Sool regions are the only areas where travel might be risky. The pacification of Somaliland came at a high cost: the majority of government revenues goes toward employing erstwhile militias which now constitute the army, but you can go about safely now through almost all of Somaliland.

Many nations, while not recognizing Somaliland officially, recognize its success. The United Nations has a lot of its staff located there instead of Mogadishu for security reasons. Ethiopia supports it and utilizes their ports. Even the United States has sent high level state department officials in the last five years, and cooperated a bit with them.
Somaliland’s recent development
Somaliland now has several universities, license plates on its cars, and a relatively decent state infrastructure, all made without any real aid from the international community, which continues to put money into the rest of Somalia which has, historically, failed miserably.
Problems
Somaliland, it seems, has done a magnificent job of rebuilding itself without any help, and might well deserve independence. But, for the sake of being fair and balanced (really), here are some bad things about it, as well as my responses.

1. Somaliland’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion. This isn’t quite the case. Non-Muslims are allowed to keep their religion, but are not allowed to proselytize. Moreover, part of its constitution is based on Sharia law, which does not recognize the right of a Muslim to change his or her religion. In response to this, I’d note that Somaliland is not a religious country, is not a theocracy, and the people generally secular, and a lot of similar (indeed worse) problems exist in recognized states. I haven’t heard of stoning women to death since 1993, though I suspect it happens in some places. I don’t know if the government sanctions it. A quick google search talks of stoning in 1993 and more recently in what’s left of the original Somalia (in the autonomous region of Puntland.) Anyway, women do vote in large numbers and womens’ rights groups are very active.
2. Somaliland has a land dispute with the autonomous region of Puntland. The Somaliland regions of Sanaag and Sool have a lot of inhabitants who want ot be part of Puntland. Somaliland denies them this, insisting on maintaining the original colonial borders (it occupies no land not allotted to them by the British in 1960.) I say that the international community could solve this rather easily by negotiating, maybe dangling recognition as a prize for Somaliland letting the two regions go.
3. Recognizing Somaliland would encourage secessionist groups and break the concept of territorial integrity and colonial borders. However, since Somaliland was originally an independent country, and the people want to be independent, I say let them, especially since they have A) recognized the colonial borders in accordance to the African Union and B) shown themselves to be more or less self-sufficient and successful at democracy.
United States Interest
Finally, about the United States. Somaliland has little to no presence of terrorist groups like Al Qaeda. Indeed, it and the rest of Somalia are so clan-centric that the people generally don’t set aside clan loyalty to join extremist groups. Religious conservatism isn’t very prevalent, and is focused mostly in young urban college students- the more rural you get, and more secular or tribal you get. Somaliland had one or two run-ins with terrorist groups, but the groups have had little success and many failures there.

Somaliland is located in the Gulf of Aden, a valuable shipping corridor and also pirate haven, though I think most pirates are to the East. Recognizing Somaliland would provide the United States with a valuable ally in an economically advantageous region.
World Interests
Recognizing Somaliland might allow us to explore their tribal method of reconciliation, used to end the civil war and chase out terrorist groups. Recognizing them might allow us to use this method, forgotten in the rest of Somalia, to bring peace there, without the Somalilanders fearing that we’d force them into a union with Somalia the moment peace is made. (Right now they say they don’t want to interfere in Somalia’s internal affairs.)

Recognition of Somaliland should come soon if it is to come at all. They need developmental assistance to maintain the economic boom they’re currently experiencing. They need assistance in dealing with Puntland, which regularly incurs on their borders.
Conclusion
Somaliland was once an internationally recognized independent state. It gave up sovereignty in a political experiment that failed, and pulled out of the experiment in 1991, without gaining international recognition. Since then, it has stabilized the turmoil that once raged within, pacified the country, established democratic institutions, held free and fair elections, operated smoothly under rule of law, and rebuilt itself, all while being ignored by the international community at best and opposed by it at the worst. Many international government officials traveling to Somaliland come back impressed and determined to support their independence. I would like to encourage all of you to research Somaliland yourself (just google it) and decide whether you think it is worthy of independence. If you think it is, tell people about it, write to your congressmen, join groups seeking recognition, and make a difference in the world, based on the will of people, not national and international governments.

Links
For a history of Somaliland, more on its current situation, its conflicts with Puntland, and much, much more check out an article from the global policy forum at <http://www.globalpolicy.org/nations/sovereign/sover/emerg/2002/1129littlecountry.htm>.

For a list of articles on Somaliland and other de facto states, also by Global Policy Forum, go to <http://www.globalpolicy.org/nations/sovereign/sover/emerg.htm#som>.

For the webpage of SONYO, the Somaliland National Youth Organization, go to <http://www.sonyoumbrella.blogspot.com/>

For the Somaliland government website, go to <http://www.somalilandgov.com/>

For a full copy of the constitution and more resources provided by the Somali Diaspora, go to <http://www.somalilandforum.com/>.

For the Somaliland Policy and Reconstruction Institute, go to <http://www.sopri.org/archive.aspx?doc=visiting_ministers>.

Then, of course, use Google. A lot of good links are on the fourth and fifth page of search results. Good luck! Let me know if any of you are interested in helping seek out recognition.

I knew the British part was supposed to become independent at some point, but I hadn't heard anything in years.