Surreal, This is the word that came to me when I landed in Somaliland: using a Liberland passport at the end of a flight paid in Bitcoin, to be greeted by Somaliland officials… this was an intellectually stimulating experience !
Think about it from the perspective of world instances such as the UN or the IMF: entering a country that doesn’t officially exist with a passport from another country that doesn’t officially exist, with our expenses paid in a currency that no world instance is able to coercively control… that sounds surreal, doesn’t it ?
Liberland and Somaliland are very different, in terms of culture and policies. Of course, our stories differ a lot as well, as Liberland was founded on an unclaimed piece of land, whereas Somaliland seceded from Somalia. Yet, those two countries have many things in common: the faith of their people in their country.
One critical objection to Liberland is often that this project doesn’t fulfill the criteria of the Montevideo convention, for Liberland doesn’t control the territory claimed by its government. While this claim has been dealt with and debunked by legal experts in the publication Chicago Journal of International Law, it is interesting to think about this convention from the perspective of Somaliland.
For the record, Somaliland actually has been recognized by the UN at its foundation, before it fused with Somalia into one common country for a brief period of time. Yet they have been struggling to obtain their recognition for 27 years.
And Somaliland fully aligns with the requirements of the Montevideo convention. Yet, they have been struggling to obtain their recognition for 27 years.
For quite a long time, I’ve been interested in ethics and futurism, and there is one thing I take for granted: nobody can predict the future. That is why state-driven intervention usually doesn’t work beyond a certain extent, and that is why entrepreneurship is hard, risky, and exciting.
In the future, nobody can predict if Liberland will be fully recognized internationally, but we can be sure that the Montevideo convention is not really a crucial and determining factor. And somehow, recognition isn’t really an absolute limitation either: Somaliland is thriving, and can easily stand comparison with other countries in many respects.
We had the pleasure to behold infrastructures, facilities, and human and technological development that offers the proper atmosphere for entrepreneurship (the Somaliland constitution also guarantees private property and a free-market economy).
We also had the pleasure to visit the Liberland building in Hargeisa (Somaliland’s capital city), and we even found a new location to welcome Liberland supporters who would like to start businesses.
Nobody can predict what our future world will look like: will there be a new world order, or maybe many smaller states, independent from each other? These questions are fascinating and countries such as Somaliland or Liberland will be experimental labs for future political organizations.
One of the most thrilling events was the 27th anniversary’s conference: journalists, lawyers, politicians and diplomats from more than forty countries attended a diverse, multilingual event where the future of Somaliland was discussed.
Liberland President Vít Jedlička had the opportunity to express his views in favor of crypto-currencies and decentralized governance systems.
The Liberland team also visited Somaliland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss continuing collaboration.
Countries that are not recognized by the UN could be a starting point for new political innovations, and we look forward to seeing the progress of projects that share these new developments with Liberland.
