With the US administration less than hundred days in office and immersed in trying to fix its ailing economy, it might be a bit premature to talk about US policy toward Somaliland. Nevertheless, there are some pointers coming from members of the Obama administration and their advisers of the expected direction of the US policy toward Somaliland and Somalia that are raising serious concern here, and that could have very dire consequences. The concern in Somaliland is about the continuation and strengthening of the US policy of rewarding failure and punishing success. Why are we saying this? Here is why.
In response to a question about US policy toward Somalia, Phillip Carter, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary reiterated the two main guiding principles of US policy toward Somalis: (1) security and political stability; and (2) humanitarian assistance. But when Phillip Carter was asked about US policy toward Somaliland, he said that the US is now focused on the south and that it cannot decide on recognizing Somaliland until the situation in the south has in his word “jelled.” When you take out the diplomatic niceties, what the Deputy Assistant Secretary is saying is that because Somaliland has political stability and is not a terrorist haven the US is going to ignore it and concentrate on terrorist-infested southern Somalia. The same logic applies to US humanitarianism: since Somaliland is not suffering from famine and is not a source of a huge number of refugees, the US is going to devote the bulk of its humanitarian assistance to the south. Now if this is not punishing success and rewarding failure, we don’t know what is.
Mind you, we are not opposed to the US playing a role in stabilizing Mogadishu or helping southern refugees. But we and most Somalilanders are opposed to is this unconscionable policy of putting Somaliland on hold until the US is done with mending Somalia. This policy has been in place for almost twenty years, and it has not borne any fruits. It has only made the situation in southern Somalia worse and worse. It is also turning many Somalilanders against the US. Many Somalilanders are asking if the US and the West are treating Somaliland shabbily because it is peaceful, democratic and anti-terrorist while at the same time the West is spending so much time, energy and resources on propping up a fictional government in southern Somalia, why should Somaliland give so much priority to peace and security in the region. More importantly, if US officials and their advisers are openly saying that coddling terrorists is going to be US policy, why should Somaliland bother with fighting terrorism and not reach its own accommodation with extremists?
The upshot of all of this is that Somalilanders are losing patience with the US policy of putting them on hold until the US is done with establishing order in Somalia. Many Somalilanders are coming to the conclusion this policy is essentially a ploy to cover the real US policy which is that the US is not really interested in developing either Somaliland or Somalia but is primarily interested in anti-terrorism and humanitarian relief. In other words, once the problems of terrorism and humanitarianism are off the table, US and Somali interests part ways. This is where US-Somaliland relations have been for the last twenty years. The earliest statements coming from the Obama administration indicate that this approach is likely to continue. For Somalilanders, this is the road to nowhere.
US policymakers need to think long and hard about the consequences of their policy toward Somaliland. They can no longer assume that Somaliland will be there peaceful and waiting for them until they are done with Somalia. On the contrary, if the current trend continues, of more and more Somalilanders coming to the conclusion that their efforts toward peace, democracy and anti-terrorism will only result in their being treated with disdain or being marginalized, it will discredit Somaliland’s democratic system and empower the forces of chaos and extremism who have never hidden their intention to turn Somaliland into a terrorist haven.
Like people everywhere, hope is what has kept Somalilanders going. Hope of recognition and a better tomorrow. For almost twenty years, the international community has pursued a policy of neither helping Somaliland in improving the lives of its people nor granting it international recognition while at the same time the international community kept habitually and hypocritically praising Somaliland’s democracy. Well, countries don’t exist because of democracy alone. And if Somaliland’s democracy fails and the country starts sliding into chaos and terrorism, the international community should blame no one but itself for virtually ensuring such an outcome, an outcome which will make Puntland’s piracy and Mogadishu’s terrorism a child’s play.
 

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