Could Somaliland be Officially Recognized by the U.S. Government?
The unrecognized state is betting its Red Sea access and mineral wealth can convince the Trump administration to break with international consensus after decades of diplomatic isolation.
Somaliland’s push to be recognized as a sovereign entity may have just been bolstered by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, who has officially called on President Donald Trump to recognize the de facto state. In asigned letter, Cruz states that Somaliland could help “America advance our national security interests in the Horn of Africa and beyond.”
The support of Senator Cruz, the Republican chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa, is crucial for Somaliland’s lobbying efforts. The eastern African state broke away from Somalia and declared its independence in 1991; however, ithas not been recognized by the international community as a sovereign state. If the U.S. becomes the first country to recognize Somaliland’s sovereignty, it will undoubtedly be a significant boon to its hopes for increased diplomatic visibility worldwide.
Speaking with Bloomberg in late July, Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahistated that his government is willing to offer the U.S. a strategic military base at the entrance to the Red Sea, as well as a deal for the mining of critical minerals, in exchange for recognition.
“Somaliland is located in a very strategic location, it has 850KM [528 miles] of sea shore in the Gulf of Aden,” Abdullahi,elected last November, stated, hoping that the country’s easy access to what Cruz described as “one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors” will help sway U.S. recognition.
Earlier this month, President Trump said his administration was looking into a deal for Somaliland’s recognition in exchange for receiving Palestinian refugees from Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. Also, Cruz said in his letter that Somaliland has “sought to strengthen ties with Israel, and voiced support for the Abraham Accords.”
The Somaliland governmentwelcomed Trump’s remarks, saying that it’s a recognition of the state’s “34-year history of upholding peace, democratic governance, and sustainable development.”
The critical minerals deal offer could very well sway Trump; his administration recently brokered a peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, after the former offered a minerals-for-peace deal. However, there’s no assurance that there will be peace in eastern DR Congo, which is currently being held by M23 rebels, allegedly with the help of Rwandan forces.
Somaliland has been attempting for years to gain external recognition, and it appeared to be on the verge of success through a deal with Ethiopia. The deal would’ve given landlocked Ethiopia access to Somaliland’s port, but Somaliaopposed it, as the East African country still considers Somaliland to be part of its territory. Tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia briefly escalated after Somalia allied itself with Egypt, which vehementlyopposes Ethiopia’s massive dam project.
Relations between Ethiopia and Somalia werepatched up earlier this year, which led to the shuttering of the Ethiopia-Somaliland deal. Now eyeing the U.S., Somaliland’s pivot is a maneuver that could help accomplish its goal.