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Somaliland’s foreign policy has many shortcomings some of which we have
pointed out in our editorials throughout the years. One of these
shortcomings is the obvious lack of communication with the foreign media
which has gotten to the point that when Somaliland scores important
successes no effort is made to bring those achievements to the attention
of the international media and policy makers around the world. Instead
it is just celebrated among Somalilanders which makes it seem like a
purely local affair. This happens so often that it is now an established
pattern. We already mentioned how Somaliland government failed to
contextualize and publicize its contributions to the security of the
region when it received the two Guantanamo detainees about two weeks ago
as well as the one released a year earlier. Somaliland government could
have used this occasion to remind the international community that it
cannot continue to deny it diplomatic recognition and at the same time
require it to shoulder duties that are vital for the security of the
region.
Another case in point is the interview that President Dahir Rayale Kahin
gave to the VOA about his summation of the year past and his hopes for
the new year. The interview was in Somali and was for Somali listeners.
Nothing wrong with that. But he should have also spoken with at least
one major foreign media outlet and spread the word about the country’s
progress and hopes for the future. The fact that he did not reach out to
the foreign media is a signal that he does not see it as important
enough to be worth the effort. Naturally enough, the ministries of
foreign affairs and information pick up the president’s lack of interest
so they make no effort to seek foreign media coverage either.
One of Somaliland’s obvious disadvantages is that it is trying to sell
good news whereas the media gravitates towards bad news, so it is
difficult for Somaliland to compete with Mogadishu’s mayhem, Puntland’s
piracy or Yemen’s terrorist activities and multiple rebellions. But
despite these obstacles, Somaliland provides an irresistible
counter-narrative to the ugliness in Mogadishu, Puntland and Yemen, and
that counter-narrative must be disseminated far and wide.
The attempt by Nigerian national Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow a US plane
and the fact that the terrorist plot originated in Yemen has brought
urgent focus on Yemen as a terrorist base and a security threat to the
West to the point that US government has promised to double US aid to
Yemen. The US also had made some noise about assisting Somalia, but
everyone knows that Somalia’s so-called government is a government in
name only. Somaliland’s government must not allow the international
focus on the terrorist threats emanating from Yemen and Mogadishu to
bury and sideline Somaliland’s concerns and interests. Furthermore,
Somaliland should not let its success in preventing the establishment of
terrorist havens in its territory, its peace and stability to be used
against it. Yes Somaliland has peace, stability and democracy but these
cannot be taken for granted and need to be nurtured. These are some of
the messages that Somaliland’s government should convey to the
international media. For if Somaliland’s government does not let the
world know its position and interests, nobody else will, as Somalis say,
“nin aamusay hooyadii qadisay” (whoever does not speak is ignored even
by his own mother).
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