Joshua Meservey, senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, advocated in a recent policy paper that the United States recognize Somaliland as an independent state. This serious proposal is overdue for consideration. Meservey recounts that Somaliland ended its voluntary union with Somalia in May 1991 and has been governing itself successfully for 30 years. Somaliland has held competitive elections—accompanied by peaceful changes of government—and has a military, constitution, flag, and passport. Its deep-water port of Berbera is being developed by Dubai Ports World and is rapidly gaining capacity. Somaliland lies just east of Djibouti and south of Yemen on the Gulf of Aden and abuts the strategically important Bab-el-Mandab Strait. Meservey argues correctly that recognizing Somaliland’s independence would provide the U.S. military a much-needed alternative to Djibouti and diminish the Chinese threat to U.S. facilities, personnel, and operations there. Such a move would also provide the United States and others with a stable, functioning, peaceful partner in a war-torn region and strengthen Somaliland’s democratic governance and economy.
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