\n<\/p>\n
The Cold War-era airstrip, its asphalt gleaming in the sunlight, stretched toward the coastline on the Horn of Africa. A few miles away, dock workers unloaded cargo at a port on the Gulf of Aden, a vital global shipping route frequently under attack by Houthi rebels from Yemen.<\/p>\n
These two maritime facilities in Berbera city belong to Somaliland, an enclave of about five million people that has functioned independently from Somalia since 1991. Some Somalilanders see the port and the airstrip as the keys to achieving a decades-old ambition: international recognition.<\/p>\n
Somaliland has its own currency and passport, as well as control over its foreign and military affairs. It has held several widely praised independent elections. Now, it wants to make a deal with President Trump in which the United States would lease both the port and the airstrip in exchange for long-awaited statehood.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Gaining an endorsement from the most powerful country in the world, Somalilanders say, would bring global investment and broader diplomatic and security ties. But some analysts fear that recognizing Somaliland could disrupt the region, strengthen groups like Al Shabab and upset close U.S. allies like Egypt, Turkey and the African Union, who fear the move would set a precedent for secessionist movements across Africa.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The timing may be auspicious. The Trump administration is considering closing its embassy in Mogadishu<\/a>, the capital of Somalia, citing security risks. Persistent attacks from Houthis have disrupted international shipping, heightening concerns of growing instability in the region. And as the trade war with China heats up, a new U.S. foothold on the continent could help counter Chinese influence.<\/p>\n \u201cMyself and my people are hopeful that the business-mindedness of President Trump will lead to the recognition of Somaliland,\u201d President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi said last month in an interview with The New York Times at the presidential palace in Hargeisa, the capital. \u201cThis is the biggest opportunity we\u2019ve had.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Abdullahi plans to visit Washington in the coming months. The deal he envisions includes a U.S. military base along the territory\u2019s 500-mile shoreline hugging the Gulf of Aden. Such access would give the United States a critical presence on a major shipping route and a strategic vantage point to monitor conflicts<\/a> in the region, including in Somalia.<\/p>\n Last week, Gen. Michael E. Langley of Africa Command warned<\/a> the Senate Armed Services Committee about escalating threats from the Qaeda-linked group Al Shabab and ISIS, which he said was directing its global operations from Somalia. \u201cLeft unchecked, they will have a direct effect on the homeland,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Some Republican leaders and Mr. Trump\u2019s allies are calling for a re-evaluation of U.S. policy toward Somalia, citing concerns over the country\u2019s persistent instability. Somalia is among the countries facing a complete travel ban<\/a> under proposed restrictions from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n The United States currently has a base in neighboring Djibouti<\/a>, next to Chinese and European military operations. Somaliland would be a less congested option for monitoring the waterway and launching potential strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen<\/a>, Somaliland officials say.<\/p>\n The base would be coupled with Berbera International Airport, which at 2.6 miles has one of the longest landing strips in Africa. The airfield was built by the Soviet Union in the mid-1970s and was once rented by NASA for space shuttles. It was recently renovated by the United Arab Emirates, but remains vacant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Somaliland is one of the few places in Africa that has maintained close diplomatic ties with Taiwan and has positioned itself as an indispensable American ally willing to stand up to China and its expanding influence on the continent<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMany countries, when forced to choose between the U.S. and China, opt for the latter,\u201d Mr. Abdullahi wrote in a January letter to Mr. Trump that was obtained by The Times. \u201cWe have consistently chosen \u2014 and will continue to choose \u2014 America, Taiwan and other free, democratic partners.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n One scorching afternoon in Hargeisa last month, Edna Adan was busy sorting through piles of folders at her office.<\/p>\n At 87, she walks briskly and shows no sign of slowing down from her work as a nurse-midwife, an activist and the founder of a major maternity hospital and a university<\/a> in the city that carry her name.<\/p>\n In the early 2000s, Ms. Adan served as Somaliland\u2019s first female foreign minister. She still speaks passionately about how Somalia and Somaliland have always been separate states.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Somaliland was a British protectorate until its independence on June 26, 1960. Days later, it merged with the Italian-administered Somalia to form the Somali Republic. Almost immediately, Somalilanders felt marginalized and neglected by the new government.<\/p>\n Then, in the 1980s, because of political marginalization and repression, there was an open rebellion<\/a> against Mogadishu. The Somali Army, under the dictator Siad Barre, carried out widespread massacres<\/a>. Somaliland says that the union was officially dissolved when Somalia\u2019s central government collapsed<\/a> in 1991.<\/p>\n But no country has been willing to give Somaliland global recognition, limiting its ability to sign security agreements, access international markets, formally participate in international sports<\/a> or properly control its airspace<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been denied our voice,\u201d Ms. Adan said. \u201cWe have been denied a place to tell our story.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Global attention on Somaliland\u2019s pursuit of independence fluctuated until last year, when a former president took a risk. On Jan. 1, 2024, Somaliland announced it had signed a deal<\/a> allowing Ethiopia to build a naval facility on its coastline in exchange for recognition.<\/p>\n Ethiopia never publicly committed to recognizing Somaliland as an independent state. But the agreement set off a major diplomatic and military standoff<\/a> with Somalia, and raised concerns about a wider regional conflict that would pull in Ethiopia\u2019s longtime adversaries, Eritrea and Egypt. After Turkish mediation, Somalia and Ethiopia agreed to end their dispute in December.<\/p>\n But the standoff had another effect: refocusing attention on Somaliland\u2019s strategic assets, including its natural resources.<\/p>\n Orina Chang, a Taiwanese-American investor formerly with Morgan Stanley, recently worked with a mix of American and Somaliland geologists to map out locations for rare earth minerals across parts of Somaliland. Agencies, including the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, have shown interest in investing in the projects, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe U.S. government is now more interested in Somaliland than before,\u201d she said. \u201cAll of a sudden, people are calling.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Somali officials in Washington have hired<\/a> a lobbying firm with deep Republican connections to help get closer to Mr. Trump.<\/p>\n Last month, Somalia\u2019s president wrote his own letter to Mr. Trump, offering the United States exclusive control of two air bases and two ports \u2014 including the port in Berbera. Somaliland officials dismissed the offer as \u201cdesperate,\u201d asserting that Somalia did not have the authority to provide the United States with an asset it did not control.<\/p>\n \u201cThey seem to be on a suicide mission, and there is nothing they can do to stop the upcoming recognition of Somaliland,\u201d Abdirahman Dahir Adan, the territory\u2019s foreign minister, who met officials in Washington meeting last week, said in an interview.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Even as it seeks global recognition, Somaliland is dogged by several domestic challenges, including high unemployment and persistent poverty and inequality.<\/p>\n Tensions between China and Somaliland escalated when Taiwan opened a representative office<\/a> in Hargeisa in 2020. Taiwan has spent millions of dollars supporting military training<\/a>, agriculture, medicine and infrastructure in Somaliland.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n China recently met with officials from and provided aid<\/a> to a region in Somaliland\u2019s east that is in conflict with the government in Hargeisa. Observers and officials say the move was aimed at rattling Somaliland and getting it to abandon<\/a> its ties to Taiwan. On Saturday, Somalia\u2019s prime minister arrived in the disputed region for a planned visit, the Somali state news agency reported<\/a>, a move that Somaliland\u2019s Foreign Ministry called<\/a> \u201cprovocative\u201d and \u201cill timed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt would really be seen as a major setback for the Chinese if the United States were to recognize Somaliland,\u201d said Eric Olander, a founder of the China-Global South Project website. \u201cShould Somaliland go down this path, it\u2019s inserting itself into a struggle with China that it will never escape from.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to fearing that recognition of Somaliland could sow long-term problems in the region, some analysts say that it could become linked to U.S. divisions.<\/p>\n Without bipartisan support, Somaliland could also be seen as a pet issue for congressional Republicans, leading to a backlash under a future Democratic administration, observers say.<\/p>\n For now, these are all risks that Somaliland says it is willing to take. \u201cFor 34 years, we have proven to the world that we are an example of peace and stability,\u201d said Hafsa Omer, 22, who founded an all-girls basketball team in Hargeisa. \u201cGive us our recognition now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n