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Forged In Fire

SOMALILAND

Some want to make Palestine the world’s newest country – but others say Somaliland might be a better bet.

A former British protectorate whose independence was recognized in 1960 before it became a semi-autonomous part of Somalia, Somaliland experienced genocide in the late 1980s under Somali rule, but since then it has “embraced democracy and maintained internal peace,” argued Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, in the Washington Examiner. In 1991, the country announced its secession from Somalia, but few countries have recognized its status as such.

True independence will certainly be on the mind of Somalilanders as they hold general elections on Nov. 13, noted Khalifa University associate professor Brendon J. Cannon in the Conversation. A peaceful vote and a peaceful transition of power will be key to Somalilanders realizing their dream of creating an internationally accepted nation.

Somaliland already shows signs of behaving like an independent nation. For example, its security forces have clashed with fighters from another semi-autonomous Somali region, Puntland, in the city of Las Anod. Both Somaliland and Puntland claim the city as their own, Al Jazeera reported.

Perhaps more importantly, Somaliland signed an agreement with its southwestern neighbor Ethiopia earlier this year that would give the Ethiopian navy access to the Red Sea – Ethiopia has been landlocked since losing Eritrea in a civil war in the early 1990s. Under the agreement, Ethiopia, a regional power, will recognize Somaliland’s independence.

Somalia understandably opposes the agreement, however, Voice of America reported. Somalian and Ethiopian leaders have been sparring over the deal, with the Ethiopians defending their proposal as a straightforward agreement and Somalians suggesting that Ethiopia wants to exert undue influence on their country – even though the Somalilanders don’t view themselves as Somalians.

Complicating the matter has been a military agreement between Somalia and Egypt. Coincidentally, the Middle East Forum explained, Egypt’s relations with Ethiopia have soured in recent years over the massive dam that Ethiopia has built on the Nile River, a facility that Egyptians fear could cut off the flow of this vital waterway.

Analysts say this complex web in the region is dangerous even as they note how new nations are often forged in fire.

“The involvement of other players in the Horn of Africa’s security landscape is a prime example of how middle-power politics and diplomacy in one region could, over time, create a tinderbox of conditions,” the Atlantic Council warned, adding, “one in which even a small mistake could cause a rapid escalation.”

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