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Somalia’s Foreign Policy Compromised by diplomatic double-dipping

In Moscow: The Somali Foreign Minister Abshir Huruse and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov sign a Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral relations.

Mogadishu (PP Editorial) — At the height of the Cold War Somalia veered from the East to the West. In 2023 the Federal Government of Somalia engages in a shameless diplomatic double-dipping. Last week, the Foreign Minister of Somalia Abshir Jama signed an agreement with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in what some analysts have dubbed “ingratitude shown to the USA”, a country whose taxpayers fund several institutions of the federal government.

Somalia voted in favour of a UN resolution again the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Somalia is a sovereign nation state. It can choose its friends, but in the domain of geopolitics not all friends can become boon to a country’s strategic goals. If a country tries to benefit from two opposing systems, it should be prepared for the metaphorical risk of simultaneously riding two horses.

Does President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud prefer diplomatic double-dipping to diplomatic prudence?

Lack of institutional memory can explain the Somali diplomatic escapades that leave major western donors befuddled. The Federal Government of Somalia leaders will be engaging in diplomatic grandstanding if they court attention by giving the impression that Somalia is on board with Russia over the violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. This is the second diplomatic failure engineered by the Somalia Foreign Ministry. Last year, the Federal Government of Somalia backed Somaliland Security Partnership between USA and the secessionist administration of Somalia. The Laascaanood war has forced the US government to rethink the partnership it had envisaged without political due diligence.

The Federal Government of Somalia could have consulted retired Somali diplomats to fill the gap created by the destruction of the Somalia Foreign Ministry archives. Whoever is formulating the Somali foreign policy, it is patently clear that diplomatic double-dipping costs Somalia well-meaning friends. The Federal Government of Somalia should not be spending meagre resources on public relations stunts intended to inadvertently convey cluelessness about global politics.

© Puntland Post, 2023