Abstract
One important justification for the rise of a secessionist movement is the claim of a separate political identity from that of the “parent” country. Somaliland’s unilateral declaration of independence from Somalia on May 18, 1991, received international recognition thus far. But since 1991 at least two secessionist movements in the same Horn of Africa region have successfully led to the recognition as independent states of Eritrea in 1992 and South Sudan in 2011.
Traditional cleavages within the Somali clan lineage system which precipitated the oppression of the Isaaq clan by the military government in the first place also have precluded the establishment of a separate political identity for Somaliland. This is so mainly because non-Isaaq clans in Somaliland have generally been unreceptive to the idea of secession.
In 1993, the country’s progress was marked by the election as president of former Somali prime minister Mohamed I. Egal who sought to erect a strong state apparatus as a counterweight to clan-based institution. The hybrid system of governance he helped device—employing both traditional sources of authority and a formal state power structure—was undermined by two exogenous factors: (1) Somaliland’s acrimonious relationships with Somalia and the autonomous region of Puntland and (2) the adverse international reaction to her quest for recognition.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
In a Somali debate forum called the Fagaaraha, Mohamoud Gaildon made the point that during the first Grand Brotherhood Conference of the Northern Clan Elders in Burco in 1991, armed SNM fighters were very much in control of the venue of the meeting. As a result, the non-Isaaq participants acquiesced to the secession under duress. Any agreements reached under those circumstances should therefore not be considered to reflect the true will of the people. (See Gaildon’s contribution, Fagaaraha Forum June 18 (2015) episode, “Somaliland jihadee ayey u socotaa?” Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcxmhOL238E.)
References
Abdo, M. M. (2011). Southern Sudan iyo Somaliland maxay ku kala duwanyihiin? Qaran News, January 18. Retrieved from http://qarannews.com/?p=10035
Adam, H. M. (1994). Formation and recognition of new states: Somaliland in contrast to Eritrea. Review of African Political Economy, 59, 21–38.
Adan, E. (2009). Voice of America interview (October 30) on program about “Somaliland pushes for international recognition”. Retrieved from http://www.voanews.com/content/a-13-2005-09-28-voa36/303155.html
Africa Watch. (1990). Somalia: A Government at War with its Own People. London: Africa Watch.
Ahmed, I., & Green, R. (1999). The heritage of war and state collapse in Somalia and Somaliland: Local level effects, external interventions and reconstruction. Third World Quarterly, 20(1), 113–127.
Alasow, O. A. (2010). International Humanitarian Law Series, Vol. 21: Violations of the Rules Applicable in Non-international Armed Conflicts and Their Possible Causes: The Case of Somalia. Boston: Martunus Nijhoff Publishers.
Amnesty International. (1989). Annual Report: Somalia (pp. 83–86). London, UK: Amnesty International.
Beran, H. (1987). The Consent Theory of Political Obligation. New York: Croom Helm.
Bryden, M. (2004). State-within-a failed state: Somaliland and the challenge of international recognition. In P. Kingston & I. Spears (Eds.), States Within States: Incipient Political Entities in the Post-Cold War Era (pp. 167–188). Gordonsville, VA: Palgrave Macmillan.
Buraleh, M. H. (2008). NSUM: Hooyada kacdoonka SSC. Retrieved from http://www.dhambaal.com/main/index.php?module=News&func=display&sid=1233
Burgess, M. E. (1978). The resurgence of ethnicity: Myth or reality? Ethnic and Racial Studies, 1(3), 265–285.
Carroll, A. J., & Rajagopal, B. (1993). The case for the independent statehood of Somaliland. American University Journal of International Law and Politics, 8, 653–681.
Drsydale, J. (1991). Somaliland: The Anatomy of Secession. London: Haan Publishing.
Egal, M. I. (1999). Taariikhda Marxuum Maxamed Xaaji Ibraahim Cigaal iyo Nuxurka khudbadihii uu jeedin jiray. Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgBEYICzuSA
Egal, M. I. (2001). Madaxweyne Cigaal dardaarankiisii. Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3sCas-t6Qs
Egal, M. I. (2003). Interview with Djibouti TV. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riSUS-LyGYs. In interview Egal says Somaliland must move past beelo beelo (clan-based politics) and become a nation that is politically organized around non-clan affiliated parties.
Eggers, A. (2007). When is a state a state? The case for recognition of Somaliland. Boston College International and Comparative Law Review, 30(1), 211–222.
Flatman, R. E. (1972). Political Obligation. New York: Atheneum.
Fund For Peace (FFP). 2015. Retrieved from http://fsi.fundforpeace.org/
Ghalib, J. M. (1995). The Cost of Dictatorship: The Somali Experience (pp. 160–167). New York: Lilian Barber Press.
Greenfield, R. (1989). Somalia’s letter of death. New African, July, pp. 14–16.
Greenfield, R. (1991, March–April). Siad’s sad legacy. Africa Report, 36(2), 13–18.
Holm, H. H. (1998). The Responsibility that will not Go away: Weak States in the International System. Paper presented to an international conference on failed state and international security at Purdue University, West Lafayette, February 25–27.
Horne, M. V. (2003). Conflicting political identities in northern Somalia. Retrieved from www.eth.mpg.de/cms/en/people/d/mhoehne/project.html
Human Rights Watch (HRW). (1990). Somalia: A government at war with its own people. Africa Watch Report. Washington, DC: HRW.
Institute for Security Studies. (2012, May). Paper No. 233. Africa’s international borders as potential sources of conflict and future threats to peace and security. Retrieved July 4, 2015, from https://www.issafrica.org/uploads/Paper_233.pdf
Jibril, A. M. (2011, ). The fate of Somaliland national identity of peace and reconciliation: The dialectics of tradition and modernity. Somaliland Times, July 2–8.
Jones, S. (1997). Archeology of Ethnicity: Constructing Identities in the Past and Present. London: Routledge.
Lewis, I. M. (1988). A Modern History of the Somali: Nation and State in the Horn of Africa. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.
Lewis, I. M. (1993). Understanding Somalia: Guide to Culture, History, and Social Institutions. London: Haan Associates.
Lewis, I. M. (1994). Blood and Bone: The Call of Kinship in Somali Society. Lawrenceville, NJ: The Red Sea Press.
Lewis, I. M. (2003). A Modern History of the Somali: Nation and State in the Horn of Africa. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.
Nevola, G. (2011). Politics, identity, territory: The “strength” and “value” of nation-states, the weakness of regional challenge. Position Paper 58. Trento: Universita Degli Studi Di Trento.
Pateman, C. (1979). The Problem of Political Obligation. Chichester: Wiley.
Puntland News. (2013). Issimada SSC oo madaxweyne Xasan gaarsiiyey inay kasoo horjeedaan qadiyadda Somaliland. Retrieved from http://puntlandnews24.com/issimada-ssc-oo-madaxweyne-xasan-gaarsiiyey-inay-kasoo-horjeedaan-qadiyadda-somaliland/
Renders, M. (2012). Consider Somaliland: State-Building with Traditional Leaders and Institutions. Boston: Brill.
Renders, M., & Terlinden, U. (2011). Negotiating statehood in a hybrid political order: The case of Somaliland. In T. Hagman & D. Paclard (Eds.), Negotiating Statehood: Dynamics of Power and Domination in Africa (pp. 177–199). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
Ross, J. A. (1980). The mobilization of collective identity: An analytical overview. In A. B. Cottrell & J. A. Ross (Eds.), The Mobilization of Collective Identity (pp. 1–30). Washington, DC: University Press of America.
Ruggie, J. G. (1983). International regimes, transactions and change: Embedded liberalism and the post-war economic order. In S. Krasner (Ed.), International Regimes (pp. 195–231). Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Samatar, S. (2005). Unhappy masses and the challenges of political Islam in the Horn of Africa. Retrieved from www.wardheernews.com/March_05/05
Spears, I. S. (2004). States-within-states: An introduction to their empirical attributes. In P. Kingston & I. Spears (Eds.), States Within States: Incipient Political Entities in the Post-Cold War Era. Gordonsville, VA: Palgrave Macmillan.
Teutsch, F. (1999). Collapsing Expectation: National Identity and Disintegration of the State in Somalia. Edinburgh: Center of African Studies.
The Economist. (2013). How to stop the fighting, sometimes; Civil Wars. The Economist Novemebre 9, pp. 25–29.
Tussman, J. (1960). Obligation and the Body Politic. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
US Department of State Dispatch. (1990). Human Rights Reports: Somalia. Washington, DC.
US General Accounting Office. (1989). Somalia: Observations Regarding the Northern Conflict and Resulting Conditions. Washington, DC.
Walzer, M. (1970). Obligations. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Xassan, C. M. (2014). Personal interview, December 28.
Yohannes, O. (1997). The United State and the Horn of Africa: An Analytical Study of Pattern and Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mohamed, A.N. (2017). Crisis of Identity in a Hybrid Polity: The Case of Somaliland. In: Bereketeab, R. (eds) State Building and National Identity Reconstruction in the Horn of Africa . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39892-1_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39892-1_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-39891-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39892-1
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)