President Trump ran for office to Make America Great Again. He wanted our borders respected, our language restored, and our culture reinvigorated. He is accomplishing all three at breakneck speed. Even his foreign policy forays are working in the United States’ best interest. Peace in the Middle East, fighting for every chance to bring peace to the Russia-Ukraine war, and weakening China’s globalism are big wins for America.
Speaking of borders, language, and culture, President Trump has another chance to make history — to eliminate pirate forces; undermine Islamic fundamentalism; and establish his bona fides as a peace-maker, a deal-maker, and a nation-builder who doesn’t send young American men to die in pointless wars. This potential diplomatic measure wouldn’t cost him anything but a simple declaration.
President Trump, it’s time to recognize Somaliland as a separate, sovereign country from Somalia.
Somaliland, judging by the name, has close kinship with Somalia. The failed state, home to vile modern-day pirates who have waged war on tourists and shipping lanes alike, has stifled the efforts of its northern neighbors to break away officially and obtain the rights reserved among all other nations in the world.
And yet Somaliland, for all intents and purposes, is its own country.
First, some background.
Somaliland existed as a British protectorate until 1960, when it was granted freedom from the mother country. The French Somali region also won independence and became Djibouti. The Italians controlled the southern section of the Eastern Horn of Africa, which became a free Somalia following caretaker status under the United Nations. The former British and Italian dominions joined together in 1960, but Somaliland (in the northwestern section) was getting the short end of an already short stick under the dictatorship of Mohamed Siad Barre. Civil war broke out (and hasn’t ended!), and Somaliland broke away in 1991.
For over thirty years, Somaliland has existed as a quasi-independent state. They have their own government, currency, and military. Unlike its failed state neighbors, Somaliland has retained considerable order and stability. The country has enjoyed ethical elections and peaceful transitions of power. They have forged strong relationships with the United States and the United Kingdom. They are growing their relationships with other African states, including Ethiopia.
They just don’t have official status...yet.
President Trump needs to take the lead on this and recognize Somaliland as an official country.
This move has a number of benefits for the United States, somewhat mirroring the wins for the United States following the brokerage of peace agreements with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
- President Trump would assert American influence and dominance in the region. Global power players insist on playing timid, despite the great power and authority granted to them by their voters or the power structures in their respective countries. Trump has not been afraid to think big, ask bigger, and get the biggest deal possible to benefit the United States. Stepping in and asserting the will and interest of a local people group to their own nation will bolster America’s resurgence on the world stage.
- Supporting a stable region by offering it official recognition will help stem the migrant crisis overwhelming Europe and the United States. Instead of dishonoring failed states or pushing away the rising tides of teeming masses, why not provide support to breakaway regions that can run their affairs without too much trouble, and provide those regions as alternative refugee destinations? President Trump is deporting illegal aliens to South Sudan. He could work out a deal with Somaliland to receive them, too.
- Supporting the creation of an independent Somaliland would press the rest of the Eastern Horn of Africa to get its act together. If Somalia won’t take the hint, the United States could abandon its dubious military standing in Somalia and invest its military operations in the new country.
- Trump’s move would further destabilize Islamic militancy in the region.
- As an added bonus, recognizing Somaliland would irritate Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Somalia) and her fellow progressive “anti-colonialist” adherents, who have pledged to stop further independence efforts from the breakaway region.
There are some concerns from national leaders and power brokers in Africa and throughout the rest of the world. If President Trump recognizes this separated region, how will the other separatist groups in Africa, Europe, and elsewhere respond? They will start clamoring for recognition, fire up their military operations, and engage in more subversive tactics to undermine their home countries. Recognizing one stable region could lead to more instability.
Trump and other nations can navigate these concerns fairly easily. Somaliland has already established much of the key infrastructure needed for any country to stand on its own. Somaliland is an independent state, in contrast to the relentless dysfunction and destruction of the Republic of Somalia. Many breakaway militias and separatist groups in other regions around the world do not have similar infrastructures in place. Aside from diligent partisans who hold meetings dreaming of their own separate country, the widespread separatist groups don’t have anything else in place.
Trump could allay all fears by saying to other regions clamoring for independent recognition (Catalonia, Eastern Ukraine, Gaza, and Judea and Samaria): “When you can build yourself up to be an independent state like Somaliland (with currency, military, and stable elections) in all but official recognition, give us a call.” If Trump makes the Somaliland announcement this year, thirty-four years will have passed since the region broke away from Somalia as a whole. Trump could joke that other budding nations should take the same length of time!
Nation-building can work in our favor if it doesn’t cost us anything. This opportunity is too good to pass up, and President Biden refused to take advantage of something so easy to accomplish. Of course, no one respected him (not even his own staff, who did most of the governing). President Trump needs to step out and help establish the self-rule of this region.
Image: joepyrek via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped).
