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Source: https://jstribune.com/rubin-israel-recognizes-somaliland/
Will the U.S. Be Next to Recognize Somaliland?
(Jerusalem Strategic Tribune) Michael Rubin - On Dec. 26, Israel became the first country in the world to officially recognize Somaliland. Somali nationalists claim that recognition is an assault on Somali unity, but that unity never existed. In 1960, Somaliland won its independence from Britain. Five days later, Somaliland's government chose to unify with the former Italian colony of Somalia. The former British protectorate split from Somalia in 1991. Somalia first repressed and then attempted outright genocide of the Isaaq clan predominant in the former British Somaliland, killing up to 200,000 Isaaq clan members and leveling 80% of Hargeisa, Somaliland's capital. To demand that Isaaqs live under Somalia rule would be akin to demanding that Rwandan Tutsis subordinate themselves to the Hutu who committed the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Unlike many other would-be secessionist states like the Kurds in Iraq or Biafrans in Nigeria, Somaliland's borders were set by treaty under the British protectorate. The international community dumped billions of dollars of aid into Somalia, but Somaliland received next to none and had to raise its own budget. As a result, Somaliland built capacity and a tax base. It is home to multibillion-dollar communications and mobile money companies, one of the continent's largest Coca Cola bottling plants, hotels, resorts, and transportation companies. The U.S. is actively debating recognition. The Pentagon and many in Congress favor it. The port of Berbera has one of the longest airstrips in Africa; it used to be an emergency landing strip for the U.S. space shuttle program. Several years ago, the UAE renovated and upgraded it. The U.S. could use Berbera as an alternative to an increasingly crowded Djibouti and interference from the Chinese base there. What Israel has realized is that unity in the case of Somalia and Somaliland is neither realistic nor moral. They have gone separate ways since 1991, with Somaliland moving in positive directions that should be rewarded with recognition and engagement. The writer, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, is a frequent visitor to Somaliland.