The video “Somaliland’s Push for Independence | U.S.-China Rivalry in the Horn of Africa,” by Ramesh Ramachandran, explores Somaliland’s complex and evolving geopolitical importance.
With a population of around 6 million and a strategic location along the Gulf of Aden, Somaliland is becoming a focal point in the intensifying competition between the United States and China for influence in Africa.
The documentary-style report outlines how Somaliland, despite functioning independently since 1991, remains unrecognized by any country. Its campaign for recognition is now interwoven with global power politics, regional rivalries, and U.S. foreign policy recalibration under former President Donald Trump’s influence.
The video’s narrative begins with the growing advocacy within U.S. conservative circles—especially Trump-aligned Republicans such as Congressman Scott Perry—for formally recognizing Somaliland as a sovereign state.
One of the core rationales behind this movement is strategic: the U.S. seeks a more reliable and less congested military foothold in the Horn of Africa, especially as China’s presence expands in Djibouti, where it already operates a military base near America’s Camp Lemonnier.
A key piece of conservative policy literature, the Project 2025 plan—compiled by the Heritage Foundation and allied organizations—includes recommendations for the recognition of Somaliland to counter malign Chinese activities on the continent. This proposal aligns with broader conservative ambitions for a harder stance against China and a reduced reliance on fragile diplomatic arrangements in countries like Djibouti.
The video then offers historical context. Somaliland, once a British protectorate, briefly united with Italian Somaliland in 1960 to form the Somali Republic. After the collapse of Somalia’s central government in 1991 following civil war, Somaliland declared its independence and established its own administrative systems, including currency, elections, and security forces.
Despite its relative stability and democratic governance compared to Somalia, it is still internationally recognized as part of Somalia. The lack of recognition has limited its access to international aid and trade, but it has not deterred the region from acting like a sovereign state.
The heart of Somaliland’s strategic importance lies in its port city of Berbera, which features a 4,000-meter airstrip initially built by the Soviets and recently refurbished by the United Arab Emirates. This infrastructure is now being proposed as an alternative U.S. base to Djibouti.
Somaliland is actively courting the U.S., offering Berbera as a site for expanded military presence, and presenting itself as a pro-Western and anti-China partner. Somaliland’s President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi has openly aligned with democratic allies like the U.S. and Taiwan. His 2025 letter to Donald Trump reiterated this alignment and positioned Somaliland as a rare African territory willing to stand firmly with Washington.
Tensions between Somaliland and Somalia have escalated, particularly after Taiwan opened a representative office in Hargeisa in 2020, deepening ties that have included Taiwanese investment in military, agricultural, and medical sectors. In retaliation, Somalia banned Taiwanese nationals and asserted territorial claims over Somaliland.
These tensions were further stoked by a controversial visit from Somalia’s prime minister to a disputed region, prompting Somaliland to suspend peace talks. Meanwhile, Somalia’s president attempted to counter Somaliland’s outreach by offering the U.S. access to Berbera and other assets, despite having no actual control over them—leading to diplomatic friction.
Adding another layer of complexity, Ethiopia entered into an agreement with Somaliland granting it access to the Red Sea in exchange for potential recognition of Somaliland’s independence. Though Ethiopia has not officially endorsed Somaliland’s sovereignty, the deal infuriated Somalia and risked dragging other regional powers—like Egypt and Eritrea—into a broader conflict. Turkey eventually helped de-escalate the Ethiopia-Somalia standoff, but the regional situation remains fragile.
The legacy of U.S. involvement in Somalia looms large over current developments. The 1993 incident where U.S. soldiers were killed and dragged through the streets of Mogadishu still affects American perceptions. Trump’s first term saw a drawdown of U.S. troops from Somalia, and some of his advisers have advocated closing the U.S. embassy in Mogadishu altogether. These dynamics suggest a pivot away from Somalia and toward alternatives like Somaliland.
In conclusion, after over three decades of functioning as a de facto independent state, Somaliland’s push for recognition is gaining momentum due to its geopolitical value. Its embrace of democratic allies, opposition to Chinese expansion, and willingness to host U.S. military assets make it increasingly attractive to American strategists.
Still, formal recognition remains fraught with diplomatic risks—including alienating Somalia and other regional powers. As Somaliland positions itself as a reliable U.S. partner in a volatile region, the question remains: will the U.S. take the decisive step of making Somaliland the 194th member of the United Nations?
Ramesh Ramachandran
A Senior Consulting Editor and Presenter at the Indian public broadcaster DD India
The Full Transcript
Somaliland, a self-governed state in the Horn of Africa, is grabbing headlines for its newfound geostrategic importance and its quest for independence. What’s driving the spotlight on this land of 6 million people, and how does the US-China rivalry factor in? We take a deep dive into its history, geography, and geopolitics.
Tensions are running high between Somaliland and Somalia as the US and China take their battle to the Horn of Africa.
US President Donald Trump is said to be considering recognizing Somaliland as an independent country in return for gaining access to a military base there in order to counter China’s influence and monitor regional threats such as the Houthis in Yemen.
Some US lawmakers, such as Scott Perry, who belong to Trump’s Republican Party, are pushing for statehood to Somaliland. Perry has introduced a bill proposing formal US recognition for Somaliland.
Project 2025 makes a similar pitch. Project 2025 is a name given to a document called; Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise. Under a paragraph titled “Counter malign Chinese activity on the continent,” it calls for the recognition of Somaliland statehood as a hedge against the US’s deteriorating position in Djibouti.
The 900-odd-page document has been compiled by the right-wing Heritage Foundation and more than 100 other conservative organizations. It offers a road map of sorts for the second Trump presidency. You could call it a policy wish list or a set of proposals that would impose an ultraconservative social vision on the US government.
Now, before I proceed any further, let me give you a brief history of Somaliland and why it matters.
Somaliland sits on the northern coast of Somalia, covering 176,000 km along the Gulf of Aden. In terms of area, it is around the same size as the state of Andhra Pradesh in India or slightly smaller than the West Asian country of Syria. Bordered by Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia’s Puntland region, its 850-kilometer coastline is a gateway to vital Red Sea shipping lanes.
Somaliland’s strategic location makes it a focal point in regional geopolitics. With a population composed mostly of ethnic Somalis, its terrain spans coastal plains and rugged mountains.
A former British protectorate, Somaliland gained independence on June 26, 1960, briefly uniting with Italian Somaliland to form the country of the Somali Republic. By 1991, after a devastating civil war collapsed Somalia’s government, Somaliland reasserted its independence. It became a de facto state with its own currency, passport, and regular elections. But Somalia considers Somaliland as a breakaway region and rejects its claim for independence. Despite Somaliland’s de facto statehood, Somalia’s government in Mogadishu asserts full territorial control over it.
Now the Horn of Africa is a veritable geopolitical chessboard. Somaliland is located at the intersection of many converging and oftentimes competing interests, economic, military and strategic of many countries in the region and beyond.
Now, the scramble for foreign bases along the Horn of Africa’s coast is of particular concern to the US, which established its first and largest military facility on the African continent in Djibouti in the year 2002. China opened a military base in Djibouti in 2017. It is China’s first overseas military base. Now, the US is eyeing another base.
This time, in the neighboring Somaliland, the Red Sea port of Berbera. Berbera has a 4,000 long kilometer runway built by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It has one of the longest landing strips in Africa. The airfield was once rented by the US Space Agency for Space Shuttles. It was recently inaugurated and renovated by the United Arab Emirates, but remains vacant.
For its part, Somaliland is pitching Berbera as an attractive proposition for the US and as an alternative to a congested Djibouti, where the US base sits next to that of the Chinese and some European nations.
An article published by the New York Times, is headlined, African breakaway state offers us a chance to stick it to China. It says that as the trade war with China heats up, a new US foothold on the African continent could help counter Chinese influence.
Somaliland is one of the few places in Africa that has maintained close diplomatic ties with Taiwan and has positioned itself as an indispensable US ally willing to stand up to China. Somaliland’s ties with Taiwan and Berbera’s potential as a US base escalate this rivalry. Recently, Somalia banned Taiwan nationals from entering it.
Somaliland’s President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi wrote a letter to Trump in January this year, in which he said, “Many countries, when forced to choose between the US and China, opt for the latter. We have consistently chosen and will continue to choose America, Taiwan, and other free democratic partners.”
Tensions escalated when Taiwan opened its representative office in Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, in 2020. Since then, Taiwan has spent millions of dollars on military training, agriculture, medicine, and infrastructure in Somaliland. But there’s a catch, recognizing Somaliland could shift US strategy in the Horn of Africa. For one, it risks alienating Somalia. And two, it would upset the US’s allies such as Egypt and Turkey, who fear that the move would set a precedent for secessionist movements across the region.
Already, relations between Somaliland and Somalia have been set back. Somaliland suspended all peace talks with Somalia following a controversial visit by Somalia’s prime minister to the disputed Sool region. Somaliland called it a violation of its sovereignty.
Tensions further escalated when Somalia’s president, not to be outdone by Somaliland, wrote his own letter to Trump offering the US exclusive control of two air bases and two ports, including the port of Berbera. Somaliland retorted that Somalia did not have the authority to provide the US with an asset it did not control.
And Ethiopia waded into the conflict when it entered into a deal with Somaliland that gave it access to the Red Sea. In return, Somaliland claimed that Ethiopia would recognize it as an independent state. Although Ethiopia has not publicly committed itself to recognizing Somaliland statehood. The agreement set off a major diplomatic and military standoff between Ethiopia and Somalia. It raised concerns about a wider conflict, one that would pull in Ethiopia’s longtime adversaries, Eritrea and Egypt. But Somalia and Ethiopia have since agreed to end their dispute with a little help from Turkey.
What complicates matters is Somalia’s own checkered history with the US. Memories of a 1993 incident are fresh in the minds of some when the bodies of 18 US soldiers were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu after Somali fighters shot down US helicopters.
As for Trump, he withdrew most American troops from Somalia during his first term in office. The soldiers had been deployed there to fight against al-Shabaab, a terror group affiliated with al-Qaeda. Today, the US retains only a few hundred troops in Somalia. According to reports, some US officials close to Trump, who has who is now into his second term in office, are in favor of closing the US embassy in Mogadishu.
So, in conclusion, after 34 years of its de facto independence, no country has formally recognized Somaliland. The Trump government’s interest in statehood for Somaliland is clear, but it has not committed to it just yet. But Somaliland’s president Abdullahi, remains hopeful. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper published in the UK, he says, “recognition is on the horizon.” President Abdullahi says, “It’s a matter of time, not if, but when and who will lead the recognition of Somaliland.”
Some reports suggest that Trump’s proposal of resettling Palestinians from Gaza to Somaliland could spur the US to recognize the territory as a separate country.
As Somaliland navigates regional rivalries and seeks global recognition, its future hangs in the balance. Will the US take the historic step of recognizing Somaliland as a separate country? Will Somaliland finally become an independent nation, the 194th member of the United Nations?
