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2. The Complexities of the Somaliland-Ethiopia Sea Access Deal
- Author:
- Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
- Publication Date:
- 01-2024
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
- Abstract:
- From 9 December 2023 to 19 January 2024, ACLED records nearly 300 political violence events and at least 726 reported fatalities in Somalia. Most political violence centered in Lower Shabelle region, where al-Shabaab targeted security forces and the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS). Mudug region had the highest number of reported fatalities, with 412. Lower Juba region followed, with at least 121 reported fatalities. Most of the fatalities came after battles between al-Shabaab and security forces. The most common event type was battles, with over 500 events, followed by explosions and remote violence, with nearly 180 events. Most of the events involved clashes between security forces and al-Shabaab.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Treaties and Agreements, Non State Actors, and Al Shabaab
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Ethiopia, Somalia, Somaliland, and Horn of Africa
3. The need for a ‘peace continuum’ approach to climate security
- Author:
- Louise Wiuff Moe
- Publication Date:
- 02-2024
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- Climate change is a priority area in European and broader Western initiatives for global security, with a significant focus on Africa. This DIIS Working Paper argues that advancing the climate security agenda requires approaches that integrate climate adaptation and finance into a ‘peace continuum’, spanning prevention, peacebuilding, and development. The paper shows where the current climate security-agenda falls short, in particular regarding climate finance and the prioritisation of conflict-affected contexts. It asserts that addressing these gaps is essential both for climate justice and for fostering partnerships in Africa amid growing global geopolitical competition. Drawing on insights from Africa’s Horn, the paper also discusses concrete opportunities for advancing a ‘peace continuum' approach to climate security. Specifically, it underscores the importance of strategic engagement and accessible, conflict-sensitive climate finance, notwithstanding challenges posed by institutional fragmentation and conflict. Recommendations are supported by examples of UN, AU and IGAD initiatives and case studies from Somalia and Somaliland.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Development, Environment, Natural Resources, Peace, and Strategic Engagement
- Political Geography:
- Denmark, Somalia, Somaliland, and Horn of Africa
4. The Triple Nexus in Somaliland: Lessons from integrated humanitarian-development-peacebuilding work in El-Afweyn district
- Author:
- Ahmed Nur Musa
- Publication Date:
- 11-2024
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Oxfam is committed to working with communities before, during and after crises. In Somaliland, we have been piloting approaches that aim to achieve greater synergy between our humanitarian, development and peacebuilding programming and influencing. This innovative ‘triple nexus’ work recognises that communities' needs and ambitions are not met along the false silos created by aid agencies. It asks the international development and humanitarian sector to walk the talk on locally led programming to better meet the holistic needs and aspirations of communities. This case study clearly shows the impact of programming which simultaneously meets immediate needs and development gaps while also addressing the drivers of crisis (such as conflict and climate change) to achieve durable solutions in protracted crises.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Humanitarian Aid, Water, Peacebuilding, Microfinance, and Triple Nexus
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Somaliland
5. Is Somaliland the Symbol of Democracy in the Horn of Africa?
- Author:
- Francis Tazoacha
- Publication Date:
- 07-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Nkafu Policy Institute
- Abstract:
- Democratic principles and practices are inherent in a people, especially in people who are patriotic and have an urge for prosperity and posterity. It is from this spectrum that participatory democratic practices, governance, and human rights strive in such societies for sustainable development. These democratic principles are primarily concerned with ensuring that citizens are afforded an opportunity to participate or otherwise be involved in decision-making on matters that affect their lives. This political participation is indispensable for the realization of a just and transparent society. It is probably from this premise that the Somalilanders’ democracy has evolved.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, Democracy, and Social Order
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Somaliland
6. Democracy in Africa: The Outstanding Case of Somaliland
- Author:
- Pio Penna Filho and Henrique Oliveira da Motta
- Publication Date:
- 08-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brazilian Journal of African Studies
- Institution:
- Brazilian Journal of African Studies
- Abstract:
- This case study's objective is to structure a chronological explanation about how, even in a completely adverse situation, without international recognition and surrounded by conflicts, Somaliland was able to build a minimally functional and stable state. Using the existing literature about the issue, as well as analyses of international organization's reports and of some of the country's most important legal documents, such as its newest Constitution, we will try to reconstruct the events that led Somaliland to its current state of relative stability. Elements such as civil society's participation and traditional Somali governance mechanisms were used in a successful way in this process, mitigating the inevitable flaws of an emerging democracy. Consequently, as Kaplan (2008) writes, the case of Somaliland can bring important lessons not only to its neighbors, but also to other post-colonial nations in Africa and the Middle East.
- Topic:
- Governance, Democracy, Political stability, and State Building
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Somaliland
7. The Islamic State (IS): An Exceptional Contested State
- Author:
- Deon Geldenhuys
- Publication Date:
- 12-2017
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
- Institution:
- Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
- Abstract:
- Contested states are entities whose claims to statehood are challenged by the international community, resulting in a lack of de jure recognition. In 2014 the Islamic State (IS) became the latest addition to the current clutch of contested states. Its contemporaries included Abkhazia, South Ossetia, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Kosovo and Somaliland. The IS’s recognition deficit was worse than that of most other contested states, but like the rest it too displayed standard features of statehood. These similarities were, however, overshadowed by the profound differences between the IS state and its counterparts.
- Topic:
- Terrorism, Violent Extremism, Islamic State, and Statehood
- Political Geography:
- Kosovo, Cyprus, and Somaliland
8. Enter and exit: everyday state practices at Somaliland’s Hargeisa Egal International Airport
- Author:
- Tobias Gandrup
- Publication Date:
- 08-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- The airport of Hargeisa, the capital of the officially unrecognized Republic of Somaliland, has been refurbished and upgraded over the past years in order to live up to international standards for security, immigration control and handling. In a new DIIS working paper, Tobias Gandrup (University of Antwerp) describes the contested role of the airport since colonial times and the collapse of the Somali state in 1991. By analysing the everyday practices of the airport as a way of 'performing the state', controlling entry and exit, Gandrup shows how the international standards act as external drivers for the formation of a new state in Somaliland. In this way, the licensed airport also provides a degree of international recognition to Somaliland.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, Fragile States, Economy, Conflict, Peacebuilding, and Airports
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Somaliland
9. Governing economies in areas of limited statehood: anthropological perspectives
- Author:
- Jacob Rasmussen and Kirstine Strøh Varming
- Publication Date:
- 08-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- In many areas across the world, state-institutions have limited reach and capacity. But how are economies organizedd in such areas and how can we study them? These questions are at the core of the research program, GOVSEA. In a new working paper, Jacob Rasmussen and Kirstine Strøh Varming, Roskilde University, discuss ways of studying the everyday governance of economic activity, paying particular attention to contributions from economic anthropology. Common to these is the insight that usual categories - such as formal/informal, state/non-state, and rational/moral – are of little use when we try to understand how and by whom economies are governed. The authors use examples from Somali East Africa to illustrate these different approaches. The Working Paper is part of a new series from the research program GOVSEA (Governing Economic Hubs and Flows in Somali East Africa).
- Topic:
- Migration, Fragile States, Economy, Conflict, and Borders
- Political Geography:
- Kenya, Africa, Somalia, and Somaliland
10. On taxes and suspicion: ambivalences of rule and the politically possible in contemporary Hargeisa, Somaliland
- Author:
- Jorge Antonio Campos
- Publication Date:
- 08-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- In a new DIIS Working Paper, “On taxes and suspicion: ambivalences of rule and the politically possible in contemporary Hargeisa, Somaliland”, J. Antonio Campos from the University of Chicago explores the world of tax-collectors and fiscal officers in Hargeisa, the capital of the internationally unrecognized Republic of Somaliland. Based on extensive fieldwork, Campos interprets the interaction between bureaucrats and citizens in terms of “suspicion”, an elaborate feeling of ambivalence among tax officials. Interestingly, therefore, tax collection in Somaliland can be understood as operating without the recourse to state force. Tax officials come out rather as agents of a common collective project of the new state, thus representing the hope of a political future without coercion. The WP is part of a new series from the GOVSEA research program (Governing Economic Hubs and Flows in Somali East Africa).
- Topic:
- Development, Fragile States, Economy, Conflict, Tax Systems, and Fiscal Policy
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Somaliland