In “Beyond Recognition: Why Israel Needs Somaliland As Much As Somaliland Needs Israel,” the political scientist Hamse Sh. Farah Nour argues that Israel and Somaliland share complementary strategic interests rooted in Red Sea security, the Horn of Africa’s geopolitical importance, technological cooperation, and regional stability. The op-ed explores why the relationship extends far beyond diplomatic recognition
By Hamse Sh. Farah Nour
Introduction
Recognition in international politics is rarely an end in itself. More often, it reflects shifting strategic realities in which geography, security, and national interests outweigh legal orthodoxy. States do not establish partnerships simply because international law allows it; they do so when geopolitical conditions make cooperation strategically necessary.
Nowhere is this dynamic more visible than in the Horn of Africa, which has evolved from a peripheral region into one of the world’s most contested geopolitical spaces. Intensifying great-power competition, expanding military footprints, and rising maritime insecurity in the Red Sea have transformed the region into a critical arena for global security and trade.
At the centre of this transformation is the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a chokepoint through which roughly one-tenth of global seaborne trade passes. Any disruption carries immediate consequences for energy markets, supply chains, and global stability. Recent attacks on commercial shipping have further elevated the strategic importance of securing this corridor and strengthened the search for reliable regional partners.
Within this environment, Somaliland has emerged as a strategically located and relatively stable actor along the Gulf of Aden. Since 1991, it has maintained internal stability, built functioning institutions, conducted competitive elections, and developed security structures despite lacking international recognition. While its legal status remains contested, its functional trajectory has positioned it as a reliable regional actor.
Israel, meanwhile, brings advanced capabilities in water management, agriculture, cybersecurity, intelligence, and defense technology, alongside an increasingly pragmatic foreign policy shaped by regional security challenges.
Against this backdrop, the key question is no longer whether Somaliland fits conventional diplomatic categories, but whether Israel and Somaliland possess complementary strategic assets that justify deeper cooperation in a system increasingly driven by geopolitical calculation rather than diplomatic formality.
I. Geography as Strategic Currency
Geography remains one of the most constant determinants of international politics. Governments and alliances change, but geography continues to shape long-term strategic behavior. As Nicholas Spykman argued, geography is the most fundamental factor in foreign policy because it cannot be altered.
The Horn of Africa illustrates this clearly. Situated between Africa, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific, it forms a gateway linking global maritime trade routes. Its importance has increased as energy flows, shipping lanes, and naval competition converge in the Red Sea.
Somaliland occupies a key stretch of coastline along the Gulf of Aden, overlooking routes connecting Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Its proximity to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait places it near one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints.
This importance has been underscored by instability in the Red Sea, particularly attacks on commercial shipping by Yemen’s Houthi movement, which have exposed the fragility of global supply chains. As a result, international naval coalitions and regional powers have expanded their presence in the area.
The Horn has consequently become a theatre of intense geopolitical competition. The United States maintains Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, China operates its only overseas military base there, Turkey has deepened its presence in Somalia, and the UAE has invested heavily in regional ports, including Berbera. This reflects a broader reality: the Horn of Africa is now a central node in global strategic competition.
Within this context, Somaliland’s value lies not only in its political status but in its geography and relative stability. Its coastline provides strategic access to one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors, while its internal stability makes it a predictable actor in a volatile region.
For Israel, secure access through the Red Sea is essential for trade and maritime security. Any instability in this corridor directly affects national economic and strategic interests. Somaliland therefore represents a geographically significant partner located at a critical maritime intersection.
II. Institutional Resilience and Technological Power
If geography explains Somaliland’s strategic importance, governance explains its credibility as a partner.
Following the collapse of Somalia in 1991, Somaliland developed a distinct political trajectory based on locally driven reconciliation, institutional development, and gradual state-building. Without formal recognition or extensive international assistance, it built functioning executive, legislative, and judicial institutions while maintaining internal stability.
Over three decades, Somaliland has conducted multiple competitive elections, enabled peaceful transfers of power, maintained its own currency and public administration, and developed functioning security institutions. Despite ongoing challenges, its trajectory reflects institutional continuity rather than fragmentation.
This has produced a form of institutional resilience that is rare in fragile environments. It demonstrates that political legitimacy can be sustained through domestic consensus and governance effectiveness even without international recognition.
Israel represents a different model of resilience. Facing persistent security challenges and resource constraints, it transformed itself into a global leader in technological innovation, particularly in water desalination, agriculture, cybersecurity, and defence industries.
Rather than relying on natural resources, Israel built competitiveness through innovation and adaptation. This has positioned it as a key source of technological expertise for countries facing environmental and developmental constraints.
From a comparative perspective, Somaliland offers institutional resilience, while Israel offers technological resilience. These differences are not contradictions but complementarities. Effective partnerships often emerge from such differences rather than similarities.
III. Strategic Complementarity: Why Israel Needs Somaliland as Much as Somaliland Needs Israel
International partnerships are sustained not by goodwill but by mutual strategic value. In today’s geopolitical environment, cooperation increasingly emerges from complementarity rather than ideological alignment.
For Somaliland, key development priorities water security, agricultural modernization, digital transformation, and institutional capacity-building align closely with Israeli expertise. Israel’s advances in desalination, irrigation, climate-resilient agriculture, and cybersecurity directly address structural challenges facing Somaliland.
These capabilities are particularly relevant in a region facing increasing climate stress and limited water resources. Cooperation in these areas could strengthen food security, economic resilience, and governance capacity.
Yet the relationship is not one-sided. Somaliland offers Israel strategic geographic access to the Gulf of Aden and proximity to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s most sensitive maritime corridors. In an era of rising maritime insecurity, this location has growing strategic value.
Israel’s maritime trade depends heavily on secure Red Sea routes. Instability in this corridor, including threats from non-state actors, has increased the importance of regional partnerships focused on maritime awareness and security coordination.
Somaliland’s coastline and the development of Berbera Port further enhance its strategic relevance. While primarily commercial, the port strengthens regional logistics networks and increases the strategic visibility of the Gulf of Aden.
Beyond geography, Somaliland also offers political predictability. In a region often marked by instability, it has maintained relative institutional continuity and internal order, reducing political risk for long-term engagement.
Importantly, this relationship should not be viewed through a donor–recipient lens. Modern geopolitics increasingly rewards reciprocity. Israel contributes technology and expertise, while Somaliland contributes geography, stability, and access.
IV. Beyond Recognition: The Geopolitics of Pragmatic Engagement
The debate over Somaliland has traditionally been framed through the lens of recognition. However, international practice shows that engagement often precedes recognition.
States routinely develop trade, security, and technical cooperation before formal diplomatic recognition is granted. This reflects a broader reality: strategic necessity often overrides procedural diplomacy.
This pattern is especially visible in geopolitically contested regions, where states engage pragmatically with entities whose legal status remains unresolved.
Somaliland fits this model. Despite lacking recognition, it has developed international partnerships in trade, aviation, maritime security, and development cooperation. These engagements reflect assessments of stability and strategic value rather than formal legal status.
Opposition to recognition is also driven by geopolitical concerns, including regional power balances, alliance structures, and precedent fears. The issue is therefore as political as it is legal.
For Israel, engaging with Somaliland reflects pragmatic security logic rather than legal departure. Regional instability in the Red Sea requires broader cooperation frameworks that extend beyond formal diplomatic constraints.
Ultimately, Somaliland illustrates a wider shift in international affairs: strategic cooperation increasingly precedes diplomatic recognition, not the other way around.
Conclusion: Beyond Legal Orthodoxy
The changing dynamics of the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa reflect a broader transformation in international relations. Strategic geography, institutional resilience, and security necessity are increasingly shaping global partnerships.
Israel and Somaliland occupy different positions within this system, yet their interests intersect in meaningful ways. Somaliland offers geographic relevance and institutional stability, while Israel provides technological capability and security expertise.
Their relationship reflects a broader shift from formal diplomacy toward functional cooperation driven by shared strategic needs. In this context, recognition becomes less a starting point and more a potential outcome of sustained engagement.
Ultimately, the Somaliland case suggests that in contemporary geopolitics, strategic utility often precedes legal recognition. Whether or not formal recognition follows, the logic of cooperation is already reshaping the boundaries of traditional diplomacy.
Hamse Sh. Farah Nour is a political scientist and Master’s student in Good Governance and Leadership from Somaliland. His research focuses on international relations, geopolitics, governance, and the Horn of Africa. He writes on regional security, state formation, and diplomatic affairs.
