Paper short abstract:

Somaliland has everything a state must have apart from international recognition. Its supporters including an increasing number of advocates in academia argue that it deserves recognition. This paper scrutinizes these claims and provides a slightly more critical reading of the case than usual.

Paper long abstract:

Somaliland in northwestern Somalia is an accomplished de facto state that unilaterally seceded more than twenty years ago and, apart from international recognition, has everything a state must have. Somaliland supporters in the region and in the diaspora together with an increasing number of advocates in academia and the policy world argue that Somaliland deserves international recognition. The line of argumentation usually runs that, first, Somaliland has a different colonial history and existed for a few days as separate state in 1960; second, after its unification with the Italian administered south the people in the north were denied a fair share in power in united Somalia; third, northerners were marginalized and even oppressed out under the dictatorial regime of Mohamed Siyad Barre (1969-91); forth, this led to a rebellion of northern guerrillas against the government in the south, upon which the government reacted with brute force against northern civilians in the 1980s; fifth, after the regime of Mohamed Siyad Barre was toppled in 1991, the northerners managed to restore peace and order in their region and even introduced multiparty democracy in Somaliland and held a series of peaceful and reasonably fair elections. This paper scrutinizes these claims and provides a slightly more critical reading of the Somaliland case than usual. It argues that Somaliland's recognition might lead to more conflict in the region. Therefore, a discussion of this case has to go beyond the well-established 'master-narrative' and needs to understand the internal political dynamics related to the question of recognition.