Mogadishu (Commentary) — The United States engagement with Somalia may be heading to a dual-track policy it adopted in 2009 under President Obama. The administration of President Joe Biden will not articulate the policy in dual-track terms, but it has utilized features of that policy that treated Puntland and Somaliland administrations as key partners.
Obama administration in theory had had to abandon the dual-track policy after the end of the transitional federal government of Somalia in September 2012.
The new policy under President Biden leaves out Puntland in the engagement drive in a bid to pivot to Somaliland administration for strategic reasons. And this where America is destabilizing a relatively peaceful region that is somewhat coping with unresolved territorial disputes. The official US government stresses One Somalia policy whereas the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations views Somaliland as a sovereign nation. “The Republic of Somaliland received independence from the United Kingdom on June 26, 1960, prior to the creation of the Somali Republic, and has been a self-declared independent and sovereign state since 1991 that is not internationally recognized” reads a press release on the passage of Somaliland legislation”.
The standard diplomatic practice necessitates the use “self-proclaimed” before the Republic of Somaliland.
What does the new policy entail?
According to Senator Jim Risch “the United States should explore all possible mutually-beneficial relationships with stable and democratic partners, including Somaliland”. This volte-face comes in the wake of diplomatic relations between Hargeisa and Taiwan.
America sees Somalia as a laboratory to test policies that could intimidate African nation states riven by identity politics. Why does a superpower need a foreign policy that deals with different parts of a country as if they are separate countries? The United States Senate promotes erosion of sovereignty as key Western value that third world countries need to embrace. It is not a match for the non-interference policy of China. America has been accused of taking a leave from one-time imperial powers’ playbook to sow division in politically fragile nations.
Neither Puntland State nor Somaliland Administration stands a chance to benefit from a policy that accentuates territorial claims with the potential to trigger conflict.
Biden Administration sugarcoats its Somalia policy in “partnership” terms, however, the end result policymakers have in mind points to destabilization in the name of democratic values. America is a democratic country domestically but a dictatorial superpower internationally.
Views expressed in the article reflect the views of the author.
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