Global tranquillity is my mission

Hussein M Adam
Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA; Founding President, Somali Studies International Association
Email: hadam@holycross.edu
© 2009, Hussein M Adam

Somaliland: An African Struggle for Nationhood and International Recognition, by Iqbal D Jhazbhay, Institute for Global Dialogue & South African Institute of International Affairs, Johannesburg, 2009, 243 pp., $25.00 ISBN 978-1-920216-20-7

This book review takes the form of an extended commentary highlighting some of… Continue

Written by Emily, USA

Emily will be writing to Somalilandpress.com about her experience in Somaliland and will be offering tips to anyone who may want to visit the unrecognized republic along the way – discover Somaliland from a Non-Somali perspective. This is the second article – It is a great privilege to be here in Hargeisa.

It is a great privilege to be here in Hargeisa. The sounds of the call to prayer wake me up each morning as the city bustles around me. It is much more alive tha… Continue

Written by Emily, USA.

Emily will be writing to Somalilandpress.com about her experience in Somaliland and will be offering tips to anyone who may want to visit the unrecognized republic along the way – discover Somaliland from a Non-Somali perspective. This is the Third article – It is a great privilege to be here in Hargeisa.

Dear readers,

Here are some pictures as promised. I’ve decided to set up this article as a photo narration to give you an idea of what you are looking at.

Firs… Continue

Written by: The Christian Science Monitor
Jun 11, 2009 at 06:40 PM

“The republic of Somaliland has elections, a strong economy, and zero tolerance for extremists or pirates. But no one recognizes it”.

At first glance, the dusty streets of Hargeisa look like much of the rest of Somalia. Traffic jams consist of the occasional late-model Toyota Land-Cruiser encountering a string of donkey carts or a slow-moving flock of goats. Roads, water pipes, and electrical power grids have been… Continue

Written by Emily H, USA

Emily will be writing serially about her experience in Somaliland and will be offering tips to anyone who may want to visit the unrecognized republic along the way-discover Somaliland from a Non-Somali perspective. Below is the first article -

planning the trip.

In late March, the opportunity to spend the summer working in Hargeisa arose. I was intrigued. I had heard that Somaliland is a sort of enclave of stability in the region, but to the best of my kn… Continue

Written by Caplin, Jessica
May 30, 2009 at 08:49 AM
Harvard International Review • Spring, 2009 • AFRICA

As nations across Africa struggle to maintain law and order, the international community has forsaken one of Africa's most promising states. Somaliland announced its independence from Somalia in 1991, seizing its opportunity during a power vacuum in Mogadishu. A stable democracy, it contrasts dramatically with Somalia, its war-torn neighbor, which perpetually teeters on the brink of s… Continue

The war in Somalia has entered a new phase. Even by Mogadishu's standards, in recent days the fighting has been intense. More than 100 people have been killed. The al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), supported by the international community, are engaged in a violent power struggle. The dynamics are fluctuating by the day but al-Shabaab, along with other Jihadist movements such as Hisbul Islam, controls most of the territory in south-central Somalia and t… Continue

Written by The Miami Herald
May 14, 2009 at 05:55 AM

HARGEISA, Somaliland — It might surprise you to learn that Somalia — that post-apocalyptic shell of a nation where Islamist insurgents, clan warlords and now pirates hold sway over a helpless government — has some nice parts, too.
In Hargeisa, a visitor can walk the asphalt roads at dusk and freely breathe the sharp mountain air. The street markets are busy and boisterous, and hanging out there isn't likely to get you killed. Cell phone compa… Continue

Written by Daniel Howden in Somaliland
May 06, 2009 at 11:02 AM

As Somalia gains infamy as a haven for pirates, its smaller peaceful neighbour is pleading for international recognition.

The arrivals hall of Hargeisa airport is a dust-blown, concrete box on a sweltering plain of scrub desert. Through its broken tinted doors are peeling walls with a few scattered pictures of Mecca. A brass plaque on a beam above them commemorates the opening of the building by Prince Henry, the 1st Duke o… Continue

by Chana Joffe-Walt

All Things Considered, April 30, 2009 • Piracy off the coast of Somalia has become an international problem — and an international business. Navy SEALS rescued an American merchant captain earlier this month after Somali pirates raided the Maersk Alabama as it was making its way around the Horn of Africa to deliver aid.

But the issues of criminality and the potential for violence aside, a closer look at the "business model" of piracy reveals that the plan makes economic sen… Continue

by Gwen Thompkins

In 2006, Somali fisherman Farah Ismail became a pirate. But before he was able to hijack any ships, he was caught red-handed with his pirate gear — weapons, a boat, a ladder — and sentenced to 15 years in Mandhera prison near Berbera, Somalia.

World's Worst Pirate?
At Somalia's Mandhera prison, near Berbera on the Gulf of Aden, Farah Ismail can attest that some pirates are luckier than others.

"My aim was to go and capture the ships. But it was not successful. Both ti… Continue

by Corey Flintoff


“What the United States did is exactly, in our view, what a flag state should be doing. If all the flag states took a similarly robust action when their vessels were taken, they would not see the problems with piracy in Somalia at the levels they are today.”
Pottengal Mukundan, director of the Commercial Crime Services of the International Maritime Bureau

Morning Edition, May 4, 2009 • Piracy is flourishing off the coast of Somalia, despite an intensive effort by an i… Continue

Mr Chairman,

I would like to thank you, for inviting me to Chatham House. I am extremely delighted to be here with you this afternoon, to speak about the issue of recognition of Somaliland among others.

I would like to emphasis the success story of Somaliland which by and large the international community failed to recognize a success story that is basically considered as a miracle achievement attained by Somalilanders, without tangible assistance.

Over the years our administration has taken… Continue

As part of series of articles about Somaliland democracy development, this is an informative article by Somali Intellectual on Somaliland Democracy and Development, the writer is comparing Somaliland with the failed Somalia.

The Triumph of Democracy in Somaliland

Posted to the web 11:19 Sept 28 2002 by Adam Mohamed Egeh "Mardaadi".

Sept 28 2002 The people of Somaliland were once the architects of Somali unity. On June 26, 1960 Somaliand got its independence from the British. Dur… Continue

Somalilanders are waiting to cast their votes electronically at the first time in the history of East Africa, which will support Somaliland to organize free and fair elections. All political parties expressed satisfactory over the Voter Registration Process in 2008.

The political parties and even the public are preparing for the upcoming Presidential Election on 31st May 2009. Somaliland will have new president on next day of the Election Day. The new postponement of the Presidential by Somalil… Continue

Somaliland is a victim of unspeakable horror of African Union diplomacy, where diplomatic connections and unwritten traditional codes are strong; Somaliland Cause of independence is facing a significant obstacle from the union. The African leaders failed to hear the voice of freedom of the people of Somaliland in last 19 years.

Surprisingly, Somaliland struggle for freedom and liberty within African Union is much difficult than that of 20th century against the white British. Somaliland, a forme… Continue

What is Somaliland? Don't be embarrassed if you don't know. Very few people know, and that is the beginning of the problem. Somaliland is not Somalia, but is a part of what used to be Somalia -- and it may or may not be an independent country. As you may recall, Somalia was the country in which the famous "Black Hawk Down" incident (and later movie) occurred. Somaliland is on the Horn of Africa, surrounded by Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and the Gulf of Aden.

First, a little history: In the days… Continue

Somaliland is self-reliant nation with working democratic institutions, independent judiciary system, police force, military, small navy, child care centers, primary schools, secondary schools and universities, including but not limited American universities, Ethiopian, and soon there is going to be South African, British and French universities.

This a region that was bombed to the ground, it picked it self up, reconstructed, disarmed its militia over 300 000 militia men, secured its borders,… Continue

Earlier this year, the Somaliland House of Representatives approved the 2008 annual budget. A remarkable achievement for an unrecognized nation, this budget will see an increase of 27% from the 2007 budget. It would appear that the Somaliland Ministry of Finance is steadily increasing revenue whilst at the same increase spending on social, health and economic sectors.

Admittedly there are areas of improvement, including but not limited to the banking sector. But, the main thing is that Somalila… Continue

The coordinated suicide bomb attacks in Somaliland's capital Hargeisa two weeks ago shattered more than a decade of stability. Yet the despite the continuing threat hanging over this former British protectorate, the British government will not act to properly protect the fledgling democracy.

Since tearing itself from a bloody union with the violent southern half of Somalia, Somaliland to the north has been an oasis of democratic hope in a turbulent region (about 8,000 people are estimated to ha… Continue