In Reality, Somaliland’s Self-Governance Is the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Djibouti

Speaking at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, on October 12, 2026, President Donald Trump called Somaliland “a totally different country.” It was a deliberate statement, and a direct result of policy developments under Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi “Irro.”

Behind the scenes, the State Department has been resisting congressional calls to adjust U.S. policy. Ervin Massinga, the U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia, urged Africans to ignore Trump’s comments. In May 2026, the State Department submitted its mandated “Report to Congress on Potential Areas for Improved United States Engagement with Somaliland.” The report doubled down on the State Department’s “One Somalia” policy. “The United States recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia, which includes the region of Somaliland,” it declared.

Legally, Beijing is wrong. Even the African Union recognized that, by the letter of its charter, Somaliland’s case for independence is strong.

On October 22, 2026, Djiboutian Foreign Minister Abdoulkader Houssein Omar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing and issued a joint communique affirming China’s recognition of Somalia’s territorial integrity.

Legally, Beijing is wrong. Even the African Union recognized that, by the letter of its charter, Somaliland’s case for independence is strong. “The fact that the ‘union between Somaliland and Somalia was never ratified’ and also malfunctioned when it went into action from 1960 to 1990, makes Somaliland’s search for recognition historically unique and self-justified in African political history,” a 2005 African Union fact-finding report concluded. Not only did Somaliland’s independence predate Somalia’s, but Somaliland has now governed itself for longer than it was ever part of the failed Somali confederation.

A market in Hargeisa, Somaliland.

Shutterstock

The core of Mogadishu’s argument and those of its allies in Beijing, Ankara, and Doha is that Somaliland is illegitimate because it is a colonial entity cleaved from Somalia by colonial powers. This, of course, is historically illiterate. Before the arrival of the French, British, and Italians to the Horn of Africa, the region was as divided. The Egyptian khedivate, itself a vassal to the Ottomans, controlled much of what is now the western Somaliland coast, while clan leaders controlled the rest of Somaliland, including Dhulbahante areas. Afar sultanates like Aussa, Tadjoura, Raheita, Gobaad, and Biru existed in what is now Djibouti and neighboring areas of Ethiopia. The Marjeerteen Sultanate controlled Puntland, while the Hobyo Sultanate controlled the area between what are now Puntland and Mogadishu. The Geledi Sultanate and the Hiraab Imamate controlled the coast south of Mogadishu. The idea that Somalia was unified prior to the failed union between Italian and British Somaliland is fantasy.

But if the State Department, Chinese Foreign Ministry, and Villa Somalia agree that Somaliland’s separation from Somalia is invalid, why not also demand that Djibouti rejoin Somalia?

Consider Djibouti’s origins: In 1862, The French Foreign Ministry signed a treaty with visiting Afar chiefs to sell the tiny port of Obock to the French. It remained a backwater for two decades but, after the British refused French warships coal at the British port in Aden against the backdrop of the 1883–85 Sino-French War, Paris decided to transform the small colony into a coaling station. In 1884, the French government named Léonce Lagarde commandant of Obock. He proceeded to sign protectorate treaties with the sultans of Tadjoura and Gobaad, as well as the Gadabursi and Issa clans. As Lagarde consolidated control over one Somali region, the British wove together a similar network of agreements further south to create British Somaliland. In 1888, Lagarde founded the town of Djibouti on the Gulf of Tadjoura to take advantage of a natural harbor and then signed an agreement to establish the border with British Somaliland. Only later did the Italians arrive and begin to establish outposts further south, eventually consolidating them into Italian Somaliland.

No Somalilander will put their homes, businesses, and property under the control of an unelected government that does not respect rule of law.

To demand Somaliland rejoin Somalia is bizarre by any standard. Somaliland secures its territory, has regular elections, and raises its revenue. Al-Shabaab control is on the increase; it dominates Mogadishu and runs more government functions than the nominal government. Transparency International ranks Somalia alongside South Sudan as the world’s most corrupt country. No Somalilander will put their homes, businesses, and property under the control of an unelected government that does not respect rule of law.

For Djibouti’s foreign minister to travel to China, a country to whom his government has largely sold Djiboutian sovereignty, and demand Somaliland rejoin Somalia is even more bizarre, given how artificial Djibouti itself is. Somali nationalists would be right to ask why they should forfeit their rights because a minor sheikh accepted 10,000 thalers from France nearly 150 years ago. If the answer is that the sanctity of agreements matters, then so, too, do Somaliland’s. In reality, Djibouti sells out Somaliland’s aspirations because they fear competition with their own port.

Djiboutian President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh miscalculates, though. Somaliland’s self-governance is the best thing that ever happened to Djibouti. Djibouti profited from the security Somaliland provided. To have Mogadishu control the Somaliland side of Djibouti’s border while Eritrea preys upon Djibouti from the north would end the prosperity that Djibouti enjoys overnight. For the sake of their country, Guelleh and Abdoulkader should pray that their efforts to undermine Somaliland never succeed.

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Somaliland

Somalia

Corruption

Militia

Michael Rubin

Michael Rubin specializes in Iran, Turkey and the Horn of Africa. His career includes time as a Pentagon official, with field experiences in Iran, Yemen, and Iraq, as well as engagements with the Taliban prior to 9/11. Mr. Rubin has also contributed to military education, teaching U.S. Navy and Marine units about regional conflicts and terrorism. His scholarly work includes several key publications, such as “Dancing with the Devil” and “Eternal Iran.” Rubin earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in history and a B.S. in biology from Yale University.