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Abstract
International norms of what it means to be a state dictate domestic policy within developing and unrecognized states but must co-exist with internal demands. With a mutual dependence between internal and external considerations and, indeed, legitimacy, at the fore of Somaliland’s statebuilding project and its stability, it is a useful study in achieving ‘success’ in statebuilding and in what success can mean in bringing together internal and external demands. This article examines the impact of the hybrid inclusion of traditional authority in the central democratic government as the marriage between internal and external demands. This article argues that the Somaliland state is successful because it is a flexible process rather than a project; a process that reflects the demands and expectations of society, an aspect that is often absent in statebuilding projects.
Acknowledgements
This article in part is informed by field research undertaken in Somaliland as part of my PhD research. Thanks to the Academy for Peace and Development Hargiesa, Mohammed Hassan ‘Gani’ and Ulf Terlinden for their assistance in Hargeisa. Thanks also to Robert G. Smith and Mark Duffield for their feedback on earlier versions, and to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions for clarification and improvement.
Notes on Contributor
Rebecca Richards is a Research Fellow with the Richardson Institute at Lancaster University. She has also lectured at the University of Bristol, the University of East Anglia, the University of the West of England, and was a Research Fellow at the Somaliland Academy for Peace and Development in Hargeisa. Her research focuses on critical understandings of technocratic statebuilding and conceptualizations of the state. She has also published on the process of post-conflict statebuilding in Somaliland and is the author of Understanding Statebuilding: Traditional Governance and the Modern State in Somaliland (Ashgate 2014). ([email protected])
Notes
1 Whilst Somaliland will be discussed in the context of the state or statehood here, it must be noted that Somaliland exists as an ‘unrecognised state’ (Caspersen and Stansfield Citation2011). It exhibits empirical statehood but lacks juridical statehood. Throughout this piece Somaliland is referred to as a ‘state’ and the social and political transformation taking place discussed in the context of ‘statebuilding’. This is not done to create terminological or conceptual confusion, nor is it done in ignorance of Somaliland’s lack of sovereign recognition or in any attempt to comment on that.
2 As is frequently noted, when discussing the ‘traditional’ in the African state we must recognize the possibility of invented tradition. However, we must also recognize that even invented tradition can be accepted as ‘traditional’ by the people within society. For our purposes here, the ‘traditional’ that is referred to is that which was identified and labelled by Somalilanders interviewed by the author. Further, the use of the term ‘traditional’ is done without connotation, normative judgements or any comment by the author on the often contentious use of the term.
3 Interview with Hassan Issa, former Somaliland Vice President and former Vice Chairman of the Somali National Movement, September 2006, Hargeisa.
4 Interview with Dr Aden Abokor, Progressio Somaliland Country Representative, Sept. 2006, Hargeisa.
5 In contemporary Somali society, this traditional role is stronger and more intact in Somaliland than in Somalia itself. A number of factors, including experience of different styles of colonial rule as well as dominance of a single clan in Somaliland, contribute to the strength of clan governance in Somaliland.
6 As the term guurti is used for both the traditional ad hoc council and the modern formal institution, here guurti will refer to or invoke the traditional or historical notion of the council of elders, whilst Guurti will refer to the council as a formal political institution.
7 This ‘public relations’ type activity is common for unrecognized states (for more discussion on this, see Caspersen Citation2014).
8 Various Interviews, members of government and civil society, Aug.–Oct. 2006, Hargeisa.
9 Interview with Dr Abdirahman Yusuf Artan, Member of Somaliland House of Representatives, Sept. 2006, Hargeisa.
10 Interview with Mohammed Hassan Ibrahim ‘Gani’, Researcher at Somaliland Academy for Peace and Development, Aug. 2006, Hargeisa.
11 Interview with Hassan Issa, former Somaliland Vice President and former Vice Chairman of the Somali National Movement, Sept. 2006, Hargeisa.
12 Interview with Mohammed Hassan Ibrahim ‘Gani’, Researcher at Somaliland Academy for Peace and Development, Aug. 2006, Hargeisa.
13 Interview with Mohammed Said Gees, Executive Director of the Somaliland Academy for Peace and Development and former Government Minister, Oct. 2006, Hargeisa (see also Walls 2008).
14 Interview with Hassan Issa, former Somaliland Vice President and former Vice Chairman of the Somali National Movement, Sept. 2006, Hargeisa.
15 Interview with Haji Abdi Husein, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Somaliland House of Elders, Aug. 2006, Hargeisa.
16 Interview with Mohammed Said Gees, Executive Director of the Somaliland Academy for Peace and Development and former Government Minister, Oct. 2006, Hargeisa.
17 Interview with Abdirahman Aw Ali Farah, former Vice President and former SNM Commander, Sept. 2006, Hargeisa.
18 Interview with Abdullahi Duali, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sept. 2006, Hargeisa.
19 Interview with Haji Abdi Husein, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Somaliland House of Elders, Sept. 2006, Hargeisa.
20 Interview with Abdirahman Aw Ali Farah, former Vice President and former SNM Commander, Sept. 2006, Hargeisa.
21 Interview with Ahmed Yusuf Yassin, Vice President of Somaliland, Sept. 2006, Hargeisa.
22 Interview with Abdikadir Mohammed Hassan ‘Indho’, Committee Chairman in the Somaliland House of Elders, Aug. 2006, Hargeisa.
23 Interview with Hassan Issa, former Somaliland Vice President and former Vice Chairman of the Somali National Movement, Sept. 2006, Hargeisa.
24 Interview with Haji Abdi Husein, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Somaliland House of Elders, Sept. 2006, Hargeisa.
25 Interview with Mohammed Said Gees, Executive Director of the Somaliland Academy for Peace and Development and former Government Minister, Oct. 2006, London.
26 The Constitution of Somaliland allows for the existence of only three political parties at any given time within the territory. These parties cannot be clan-based. The inclusion of this constitutional clause is a direct reaction to the clan-based political system of Somalia from 1960 to 1969.