The proposed Project 2025 has emerged as a focal point in discussions about America’s future under a potential Trump administration. Among the 900-page document outlining the conservative right’s vision, one critical yet overlooked aspect is the proposed recognition of Somaliland statehood, which the
Somali government currently seems unaware of. Although the plan aims to counter Chinese influence in Africa and advance American interests in the continent, it has significant implications for regional stability and Somali sovereignty, which could worsen tensions and strain ties between the US, Somalia and Djibouti.
Project 2025 (https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf) by the Heritage Foundation was made available in late 2023. A similar “Mandate of Leadership” was created by the conservative group earlier in 2015 for the first Trump administration. 65% of the policy recommendations were carried out by the Trump administration. Kiron K. Skinner, former Director of policy planning at the State Department during the Trump Administration, wrote this chapter for the current Mandate. The objective is stated as follows: “the recognition of Somaliland statehood as a hedge against the U.S.’s deteriorating position in Djibouti” (page 186 of the document).
Somaliland is an autonomous region in Northern Somalia that has been seeking independence and recognition since the Somali Civil war began. Tensions have recently increased in the region due to this renewed effort towards recognition by the involvement of neighboring nations in what Somalia views as an internal dispute due to the civil war. This includes the current diplomatic dispute between Somalia and Ethiopia in relation to the recognition of Somaliland statehood in exchange for access to the Red Sea. The internationally recognized Federal government of Somalia views any recognition of the breakaway region’s independence as an affront to its sovereignty and an attack on international law.
Somalia and Djibouti will suffer from Project 2025’s goal of Somaliland statehood. This would destabilize Somalia and potentially spark renewed internal conflicts in the northern region of Somalia which recently had a period of stability. Somalia’s central government would be weakened and decades long efforts for peace and unity can be destroyed. America’s ties with Djibouti could likely worsen due to the US’s strategic shift.
America’s relations with nations in the region could also suffer if Somaliland is recognized. The Somali federal government which opposes Somaliland independence and any attacks on its sovereignty may view US recognition as an affront, damaging diplomatic relations. Decreased trust and cooperation between the U.S. and its regional allies could hinder Horn of Africa security efforts. Caught off guard by the U.S.’s strategic shift, Djibouti may seek closer ties with China, complicating geopolitics, accomplishing the opposite of the stated goal of recognition of Somaliland statehood.
Somali sovereignty and regional stability are threatened by Project 2025’s Somaliland recognition and the conservative agenda. This strategy may fragment and strain relations with key nations in the region who are currently cooperating with US efforts to counter terrorist activities in the region. The
Somali federal government needs to create a strategy to counter these efforts before it’s too late.
By Z. Rashid
_____________________________________________________________________________________Xafiiska Wararka Qaranimo Online | Mogadishu, Somalia
_____________________________________________________________________________________Advertisement
_____________________________________________________________________________________
|
|
|
|
