Sheikh, Sheikh, Sheikh!
Sheikh, Sheikh, Sheikh!
Sheikh Djibouti!
Sheikh Djibouti!
Well done!
“I say, I say, I say! My husband left home, and went to the horn of Africa.”
“Djibouti?”
“No, he wanted to leave.”
:o
Of course, Djibouti’s greatest claim to fame is that it is one of only three countries in the world which has no letters in common with the word mackerel.
Unfortunately mate, your faux coy ploy rather detracts from the interesting subject of Somaliland versus larger Somalia (never mind ‘uniquely successful’ is absurd hyperbole). Why not get this locked and reboot. The well is poisoned.
It also provides an alternative solution to the “psychic” riddle which ends with “Think of a grey elephant from Denmark”
Get Djibouti on the bus, make my day.
The reason nobody’s recognized Somaliland yet seems to be out of perhaps an excess of caution with respect to observing lines previously drawn on a map. It’s officially part of Somalia, but the various Somalia governments over the past couple of decades haven’t exactly established control of the territory within Somalia’s recognized borders. OTOH, the Wikipedia article on Somaliland suggests that its borders might not be particularly stable if it achieved international recognition, so there seem to be some good reasons why the international community is moving slowly with respect to officially recognizing Somaliland.
“Uniquely” threw me off; my first thought was Botswana although the other clues ruled it out.
As for international recognition, I thought the stumbling block is Egypt in particular, in terms of regional powers (Nigeria and SA, and possibly the African Union apparently being OK w/ it), and a general anxiety that if colonial borders are allowed to be altered by secessionist groups, then a whole lot of countries will start falling apart.
This last argument makes no sense to me, and of course I’ve predicted on many occasions the US states will begin seceding within about 25 years, so I just don’t really get that vague argument–particularly in light of the ongoing complaint that colonial borders are artificial and therefore destructive.
“It’s officially part of Somalia” ? On whose authority? Clearly not Somalilanders; they have already, democratically, chosen independence (with a clear majority).
Somaliland has been operating as a stable, democratic island for about 20 years. Why shouldn’t the world finally open their eyes and recognize this? Is it just fear due to possible homegrown separatists?
You will also find that the borders of many other countries are in dispute including all of Somaliland’s neighbours and other like India/Pakistan/China/etc. This makes Somaliland neither unique nor exceptional.
I used ‘uniquely successful’ to allude to the reality that Somaliland is practically under sanctions for being deemed a non-state by everyone else, but still they go on. As for the hijacks…I think it has more to do with this board’s love for the name Djibouti. 
DjiboutiDjiboutiDjiboutiDjiboutiDjibouti…man, that never wears old…
If you can recognize Kosovo why not Somaliland?
Somoliland was independent for about five days, till it merged with what was the former Italian Somaliland.
I found an interesting analysis of Somalia’s current political situation vis-a-vis the main warring factions. If the rest of the world is waiting for Somalia to officially recognize Somaliland before they do so themselves then Somaliland doesn’t have a hope in the next 20 years too!
Not sure if it’s been mentioned yet, but Somaliland apparently had an election this last week: Somaliland opposition candidate Silanyo wins election
Sounds like observers have said the election was generally free and fair, and it’s always good to see a peaceful transfer of power through the ballot-box.
I saw an interesting looking paper here (link is to abstract, which links to article PDF), which suggests that Somaliland’s institution-building has been so successful precisely because of the lack of recognition, and the eligibility for foreign aid that would entail. That is, without being able to get external sources of support, they had to turn inwards for support and build bottom-up from there. That doesn’t really say much as to whether it should be recognised at the present time though, but looked interesting. I’ve only skimmed a bit of it so far, but might give a full read later.
Look, you’re welcome to your own opinion, but not your own facts. First you open up a ‘debate’ thread with a silly guessing game, then you pull crap like this.
It’s hard for me to believe that you’re attempting to engage in a good-faith debate.
Not diseased, but doing reverse cowgirl (SFW)
- a) Yes, I opened up this debate of Somaliland with a silly guessing game.
b) I don’t care if you think that the OP was stupid/silly. - Yes, I do want debate Somaliland in good faith (see post #1, 14, 18 and 26). I spent a little time reading about the history of the country and want to question the destructive role the world has played in the last 20 years (or continues to play).
- I repeat every point in my last post to you.
- If you got a bug up your ass about me then open up a pit thread, otherwise I direct you to post #24.
As mentioned before, the nonrecognition of Somaliland has a lot to do with the worry that this may be one more nail in the coffin of the concept of the sacrosanctity of borders as drawn upon [fill in the blank: end of WW2; Independence; UN admission]. In Africa, Eritrea at least HAD had a historic status as an entity distinct from the Ethiopian homeland, and Tanzania was assembled by the joining of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, not by dismemberment; OTOH does anyone remember Biafra? Meanwhile in Europe, the concept led to bloodshed over the last 20 years as Yugoslavia and the USSR were dissolved only along the “official” borderlines of the upper-tier constituent sub-republics, often leaving entire ethnicities (even what would be outright countries anywhere else) still enclaved away.
IMO the UN membership will for the foreseeable future refuse to set the precedent of accepting the extinction of even the failingest Failed States’ sovereingty over any part of their territory, and the vesting of it upon whoever stepped up to the plate (because, “hey, wait, WE could be next!”). OTOH, maybe if Somaliland had won a war of independence fair and square against an at least nominally still-operating Somalia, they may have been recognized; the international community seemingly respects that more.
Ah, another fine example why a Jeopardy! win will forever be beyond my grasp. I had an inkling that the OP was being coy in order to spark debate on Palestine. Pretty sure the area was under British control for a while. Pretty sure the Declaration of Independence was around 20 or so years ago. Africa? Er, Egypt is North Africa, right? Israel abuts Egypt. Maybe it’s in Africa too. Damn plate tectonics moving things about! Not quite a global embargo, but I supposed there’s enough political bickering to support a gotcha ya thread.
Sigh.
No Jeopardy! for me. Maybe I can get on Let’s Make a Deal.
Doesn’t change the fact that the OP didn’t introduce a debate until well into the thread.
No, you don’t.
OK, then I’ll remind you of the obvious: that part of a nation that secedes from the rest of it is generally not considered to be an authority regarding the legitimacy of its secession. Consequently, your “under whose authority?” BS is precisely that, BS. If Hoboken, NJ seceded from the US, would you ask under whose authority they were still considered part of the US? I doubt it.
Not really, I was the first one to actually do a serious response to the debate you belatedly introduced. Doing that, then getting nonsense back, has convinced me that it was a mistake to give you the benefit of the doubt after the manner in which you began the thread. I don’t anticipate much in the way of future interaction with you.
We’ll see how things shake out with the Southern Sudan independence referendum next year. If that goes off without war (Magic 8-ball says “Odds are slim”) there may be hope for shrugging off imposed borders.