Case Of Somaliland Research Articles

The Challenges of Human Security in the Horn of Africa: The Case of Somaliland.

Purpose: In the Horn of Africa the main challenges to human security in this region have originated from political and state fragility, resource scarcities, and environmental degradation. Human security is arrayed against escalating communal violence, small arms proliferation, and massive movements of people within and beyond the region. Since 1991 the people of Somaliland have successfully established a peaceful and relatively stable state and community. They have managed a process of reconciliation, demobilized the local militias, restored law and order, and held numerous rounds of peaceful elections. Peace, stability, national and state security were enhanced which allowed normal patterns of trade and other economic activities to resume. Therefore the main objective of this study is to analyze the contemporary situation of human security in Somaliland and to figure out the key challenges of human security that faced Somaliland since post 1991and its performance in subject matter. 
 Methodology: The study is exploratory as well as descriptive research designs. Where qualitative data were collected and used. For selection of respondents, non- probabilistic sampling techniques, particularly purposive sampling technique were applied.
 Findings: The study found that Somaliland had made relatively advancement for political, economic, health, personal and community securities post 1991. In addition, the study found that the environmental security challenges in Somaliland are many and complex in nature and Somaliland has chronically food insecure since 1991 due to lack of commitment of the government for realizing food security in the country, frequent natural and man-made disasters that erodes the livelihood base of the community. Also the study found that, Lack of international recognition, Terrorism activities in Somalia are major external challenges of human security in Somaliland. While a high unemployment rate, corruption, weak of governmental institutions and recurrent droughts are the dramatic internal challenges of the realization of human security in the country.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: Moreover, the study recommends that the government of Somaliland is required to engage human security notions by employing effective strategies and policy directions, to realize wellbeing of the Somaliland society which would promote both human security and state security since these two concepts are interrelated. Also the study recommends to Somaliland government should Review, evaluate and develop agricultural policies, health policies, environmental policies, economic policies and the legislative and institutional framework on a regular basis for the purpose of promoting and ensuring human security in the country.

Dialectics of Traditional Authority and Post-Colonial Modern State: The Case of Somaliland

This article investigates the development of states within societies that have undergone colonization, with a specific focus on Somaliland and its clan-based structure. Our aim is to contribute to the ongoing discourse surrounding the interplay between traditional clan affiliations and the pursuit of a nation-state, which is a critical issue with significant implications for political stability and international recognition in the region. To achieve this, we employ a methodology that includes reviewing relevant literature, synthesizing theoretical perspectives, and conducting in-depth sociological analyses, incorporating Weberian ideas of authority into our examination. This comprehensive approach enables us to gain a deeper understanding of Somaliland's unique socio-political landscape, which has been shaped by its colonial past and entrenched tribal dynamics. In our analysis, we critically assess the role of clan structures, such as the Guurti council, and their relationship with attempts to establish a rational state system. Our findings indicate that although clannism remains deeply ingrained in Somaliland's society, achieving harmony between these affiliations and modern state-building initiatives is crucial for the region's progress. In conclusion, we synthesize these insights to provide recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders, emphasizing the importance of strategies that recognize and address the dynamics of clan affiliations while promoting a strong state identity. Adopting such an approach is essential for fostering stability in Somaliland and supporting its aspirations for recognition.

Client De Facto States and Quasi-Patrons: Insights from the Relationship Between Somaliland and Ethiopia

De facto states need external support to advance their national interests. Many of them depend on their patron’s assistance, thus becoming their clients. In turn, patronless de facto states derive certain benefits from engaging with various external actors. This study proposes including a new category of actors in this group, namely quasi-patrons, whose relations with de facto states resemble the patron—client relationship. This means that patronless de facto states can enjoy greater external support than the literature suggests. To illustrate the relationship between client de facto states and quasi-patrons, the case of Somaliland and Ethiopia is explored.

Environmental Challenges Associated with Poorly Planned Industries: A Case of Somaliland

Environmental Challenges Associated with Poorly Planned Industries: A Case of Somaliland

Effects of Berbera Corridor on Trade and Security in the Horn of Africa: the Case of Somaliland and Ethiopia

In the post-1991 period, there have been considerable improvements in Ethio–Somaliland relations. The people of the two countries involved in development of better relations and cooperation which significantly contributed to the security and stability of the region. While Ethiopia became a landlocked state following Eritrea’s separation from Ethiopia and the subsequent war on the border between the two countries. Somaliland has paid special attention to the situation of Ethiopia’s landlocked status and opportunities that entailed. On the other hand, Ethiopia has been aware of its vulnerability by relying on a single port in a foreign country. The central objective of this study is to examine the opportunities associated with the Berbera corridor development and its contribution to security and stability of the region. A qualitative research approach was used and primary data were collected using the interview. One of the key findings of this study is that the development of the Berbera corridor will boost the economic and trade relations between and among nations in the Horn of Africa on the one hand, and will enhance the security and stability of the region on the other hand. The study underlines that Somaliland’s important strategic position in the region and its willingness to collaborate with other regional states to maintain the peace and security of the region will contribute to the region’s stability and will reduce fragility and vulnerability of the region. However, Somaliland deserves not only a mere appreciation of what it achieved without international support and assistance but also needs legal recognition as a sovereign state.

Fragility within stability: the state, the clan and political resilience in Somaliland

Even in the context of a relatively flourishing state, fragility can be an enduring feature of a political system, particularly in the case of recently established or unrecognised states. This article examines the nature of state-building in a specific context to question the assumption that forms of hybrid governance or pre-existing forms of governance are a necessary evil to be tolerated but which needs ultimately to be overcome during state-building. It does this by adopting the language of resilience and focusing on the case of Somaliland to highlight the role of clan governance as a mechanism of political resilience and as a means of promoting the flexibility required for state-building. Yet, at the same time, the process of state-building often involves formalising governance and limiting the role of traditional social-political forms of governance such as clans, ignoring their role in legitimating and stabilising the political system. However, as this article argues, stability and fragility are inextricably linked; while the clan system has been an important force in stabilising the state, it has also become a pressure point for the state’s latent fragility. By contextualising fragility and stability within the language of resilience, though, this symbiotic relationship can be better analysed.

Declaration of Statehood by Somaliland and the Effects of Non-Recognition under International Law

After the downfall of the Socialist and military Siad Barre regime in Somalia, Somaliland took an immediate action of independent declaration of statehood from its failed “parental state”, Somalia. It has been almost twenty five years since Somaliland declared its independence, established its own government, kept the peace, and managed to flourish in a kind of stability. Nevertheless, the international community has not recognized its act. Among the former Somali Republic territories, it is now only Somaliland that secured democratic and stable government and sustainable peace in the region. Somalia, which was part and “heir” of the former Somali Republic, is now unstable and even challenged by the Islamist extremist group, Al-Shabab. Somaliland, once under the colonial power of the British Empire like other African countries, argues it should be recognized as an independent state. This article investigates the legal understandings of statehood, from the Montevideo Convention to the more recent emphasis on self-determination, and then turns to the case of Somaliland, arguing that Somaliland deserves statehood status and other states should recognize it as a state as there is no legal ground under international law that justifies an otherwise position.

State-making at Gunpoint: The Role of Violent Conflict in Somaliland’s March to Statehood

The role of war in processes of state-making has long been hotly disputed. Although generally considered an African ‘success story’, the case of Somaliland, whose unilateral declaration of independence was embedded in violent conflict, may be instructive. Applying the conceptual prism of ‘rule standardization’, this article argues that episodes of large-scale violence were constitutive of Somaliland’s state-making trajectory. Based on theoretical reasoning and empirical findings, the article concludes that, while collective political violence is neither an angel of order nor a daemon of decay, war can be constitutive of state-making under the condition that it advances institutional and identity standardization.

Evidence from an Alternative Path to Reconciliation: The Case of Somaliland

The International Community’s work in conflict management and peace-building in Africa has usually been associated with a double regime of responsibility: protecting humanitarian rights and enforcing democracy. However, existing research suggests that these attempts have rarely improved the humanitarian conditions of conflictual societies, or either encouraged their democratic aspirations. Following the pitfalls met by traditional conflict management, alternative approaches have been advanced and scholars have explored to what extent the transformative power of conflict (Vayrynen, 1991; Azar and Burton, 1986) can actively reduce the level of violence in ongoing conflicts. Hence, this paper presents the case-study of the grassroots peace-building in Somaliland, where an alternative approach to conflict management has achieved more interesting and sustainable results than those pursued by the traditional diplomacy in Somalia. The empirical part of this paper introduces first the failures of the international intervention in Somalia and afterwards it describes the Somaliland alternative route to reconciliation, focusing on three aspects: the resort to traditional methods of conflict management; the gradual and preparatory nature of this peace process; the codification of traditional peace-building into a process of institution-building. This paper argues that the community-based approach adopted in Somaliland has been most productive then the traditional mechanisms adopted by the International Community in Somalia, given the ability of the ‘community’ to bypass two fundamental dilemmas that affect the top-down methodology: the ownership and the legitimacy dilemma.

Limits of hybrid political orders: the case of Somaliland

Hybrid political orders are in the literature discussed as a heuristic tool to understand how power and legitimacy are negotiated in settings where the Western model of the liberal democratic state does not work. Sometimes they are presented as an alternative model for successful statehood, e.g., by combining ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ political institutions. The Republic of Somaliland is frequently presented as functioning hybrid political order. A cornerstone for Somaliland's success was the integration of traditional authorities in government. These authorities engaged in peace-building and state formation in the early 1990s. Their role was institutionalized in the ‘House of Elders’, the upper house of parliament. This article argues that the hybrid political order of Somaliland has outlived its success. What is left at the beginning of the 21st century is an imbalanced and in many regards ‘crippled’ hybrid. It threatens democratic progress and undermines the authority and legitimacy of the state institutions as well as the leading traditional authorities in the region. These developments in Somaliland show the limits of hybrid political systems in general.

Hybrid and ‘Everyday’ Political Ordering: Constructing and Contesting Legitimacy in Somaliland

A number of recent post-colonial liberal peace critiques have moved beyond the counter-positioning of ‘liberal/Western’ versus ‘communal/non-Western’ peace and political order. Instead, they draw attention to the interstices – the processes of contestation, repulsion and accommodation – between these approaches. Some argue that the most promising, if contentious, forms of political ordering and peace building take place exactly in a hybrid of state-based and liberal practices, and local customs and ‘everyday’ life in post-conflict settings.Through a case-study of Somaliland, this article examines the potentials and limits of such a hybrid approach to advancing peace and political order. The analysis in particular engages with the largely uncharted issue of how political legitimacy is constructed or undermined, in the context of post-conflict hybrid political orders. Somaliland’s reconstruction process was characterised by very low international intervention when compared to other so-called ‘fragile states’ and post-conflict settings. The article looks at how political institutions and structures of governance were constituted from within Somaliland through local agencies and formation of alliances, which cut across the dichotomies of ‘state/non-state’ and ‘liberal/traditional’ forms of governance and legitimacy. It illustrates the advantages, as well as some of the challenges, of this process of political ordering and hybridization, where the domestic sphere was allowed to be constitutive for the creation of legitimacy.Examining a small-scale international-local initiative of peace dialogues and community policing in Somaliland, the article also discusses how international support may engage with ‘everyday’ strategies of self-securing, and deliberately ‘facilitate’ hybridity in the context of conflict management and justice.The analysis offers an empirical anchoring of the concepts of ‘hybridity’ and the ‘everyday’, but also demonstrates how the case of Somaliland speaks more broadly to post-colonial liberal peace critiques and the call for new approaches to peace and political order.

Negotiating Statehood in a Hybrid Political Order: The Case of Somaliland

ABSTRACTThis article investigates the negotiation of statehood in Somaliland, a non‐recognized de facto state which emerged from Somalia's conflict and state collapse. The negotiation process centres on the continuing transformation of a hybrid political order, involving ‘formal’ as well as ‘informal’ spheres, both in existing institutions (as ‘rules of the game’) and in the bodies or agents enforcing these rules. The negotiation processes considered take place at the national and local level respectively, as well as between the two. These negotiations are heterogeneous, non‐linear and ongoing. The article demonstrates how the polity's tolerance for heterogeneous negotiations and different forms of statehood allowed local political actors to establish peace in their own local settings first. Although it did not produce uniform statehood, it provided the basis for communities to explore the scope for common statehood. On the national level, hybrid elements initially allowed for a healthy adaptation of statehood to local needs, and for legitimate, productive instruments of negotiation. This responsiveness was not maintained, and current hybrid elements threaten to undermine the polity's stability.

State- & Democracy-Building in Sub-Saharan Africa: the Case of Somaliland - A Comparative Perspective

State- & Democracy-Building in Sub-Saharan Africa: the Case of Somaliland - A Comparative Perspective

The Evolution and Integration of Different Legal Systems in the Horn of Africa: the Case of Somaliland

This paper presents an overview of the Judicial system of the Northwest region of Somalia ('Somaliland'). It investigates the historical process and the evolution of the Judiciary since its implementation to the present. Finally, it analyzes the current status of the Judiciary, its main constraints and needs