Somaliland and Somalia
Somaliland is part of Somalia and forms the more significant part of the Horn of Africa region. The region borders Ethiopia and Djibouti. Somaliland is a less recognized region in African and the rest of the world. However, it is a self-governing region in Somalia. It has been governing itself for almost three decades down the line. However, just like the region itself, its kind of independence has not been recognized by both Somalia as a country and the whole of Africa as a continent. The area has sought freedom since the early 1990s.
There are no foreign country or governments unions that recognize it as a sovereign. However, many acknowledge it as a region that is entirely separate from Somalia. The failure for the area to be known has resulted in it having limited or no access to international markets. However, the limitation to the contrary has not curtailed the region to enhance steady democratic benefits and attract foreign investments, unlike Somalia. Research suggests that Somaliland has a rich and unique history which has enabled it to be stable amid chaotic neighboring Somalia and hence it is presented with the capability and potential of healthy independence.
However, the greatest hindrance to the above case is the fear that the regions international recognition of being independent of Somalia would trigger secession movements in other parts of Africa. As much as Somaliland has remained peaceful in conducting its affairs in the long run, Somalia, on the other hand, has been experiencing turmoil, chaos, and Islamic insurgency for an extended period despite the international intervention that has been advanced to the nation.
How Somaliland Achieved Peace
The two regions, Somaliland and Somalia, exhibit two different characteristics in the sense that Somaliland has experienced prevailing peace in the long run. In contrast, Somalia has always experience conflicts as a result of the Islamic insurgency. After its breakaway from Somalia, Somaliland embarked on building its peace. Its efforts to form a peaceful state were driven by the fundamental norms and customs of governance of Somalia. These were through conducting consultations and decision-making processes that were achieved through consensual.
All the above were inclined towards the shared values that had been practised by Somalia. The Somaliland people widely adopted the above approach since it allowed for communal participation of every citizen and the element of democracy, especially in the establishment of locally but relevant institutions of the government. Because of the approach, the institutions achieved a high degree of social cohesion and a state that is legitimate.
A government was formed to lead the state for the first two years of post-war state reconstruction. The government was to ensure security concerns were well catered for within the states borders and political accommodation for all the people. There was also the drafting of the constitution, rebuilding the economy, and restoration of the essential services within the state. During the peace and security stabilization in the region, there had been various witnessed incidences of inter-clan conflicts.
They were as a result of the political differences that had been there before the declaration of independence from Somalia. To remedy the above, reconciliation conferences were held among the clans throughout the region addressing the hostilities. A national dialogue was also held to determine the kind of political systems that the people wanted to be implemented. It all aimed at the power-sharing strategy that, in turn, saw the promotion of peace throughout the nation.
In the above process of trying to establish a peaceful region, there was no external help that was being advanced to Somaliland since any foreign nation had not recognized its breakaway. As such, all the conferences and negotiation meetings had been funded by the local merchants and the communities. Regarding the traditionally held consensus meetings for decision making, the consulting experiences and participatory conferences, the local-based peacebuilding efforts, and the state-building process was termed by the citizens of Somaliland to worth the efforts and legitimate.
The ability of the citizens to domestically finance themselves during the critical time came with the benefit of the entire nation feeling encouraged at the thought of being self-reliant and the possession of a unique Somaliland identity as a new nation. As such, there was an intensified social cohesion among the people of the state that was attained through the peacebuilding process for the couple of years that also significantly contribute to the growth of a right political culture that was free of conflicts like what had been experienced in the previous times after the breakaway. The political tranquillity and conducive environment that had been achieved, set a platform for the advancement of other security stabilization measures that the leadership wanted to see peace wholly restored.
The measures include the fight to disarm all those who had firearms and demobilize possession of the same. There was the reintegration of the clan military personnel and the ex-combatants into reformed civilians of the states that could be useful once more. Lastly, the environment also enabled the formation of the national army and police service to help in security matters. After dealing with security, the government embarked on establishing and building institutions that could provide essential services to the people such as health services and learning institutions.
Besides what can be termed as the legitimate governance system that was formatively developed on an inter-clan basis in Somaliland, other factors significantly contributed to the successful peacebuilding in the state. Somaliland was composed of a relatively homogeneous population. There was a closer to eighty per cent of the people that belonged to a community that feared Somalia during the time of peace development. The population was a bit wealthy and had minimal external interferences and involvements. The characteristics aided in the event of a reliable and accountable form of leadership to the general population of Somaliland.
Individuals that were responsible for the management and leadership of the people were also considered to be political elites who diligently executed their roles as leaders, particularly the peacebuilding initiative. Their coordination and understanding were as a result of the historically developed friendship. They increased trust among them in addition to the inclination of achieving a common objective for the Somaliland people. The above automatically perpetuated inside understanding and in turn, discouraged any form of anticipated peace disruption that could fuel political violence hence unrest.
The political peace in Somaliland is as a result of the agreement made between the business elites concerning all the available economic opportunities in the country. There is both economical and political inclusivity which has been adopted to take care of any of the emerging differences that might undermine the fragile nature of the changing balance of leadership power for the ever-competing candidates. The above implies how the distribution of economic opportunities in the state plays a significant role in determining the political processes that encompass the elite negotiations.
In the process of shifting away from the traditional forms of governance such as clannism, the government has incorporated elements of modern apparatus into the governance system. The shifting is essential since the government tries to avoid critical problems associated with some of the traditional aspects. At the beginning of the new millennial, the state set a milestone by formulating a constitution together with allowing for a multiparty system of election in a bid to replace the traditional clannism form of governance hence facing out the inter-clan clashes and instead realigning people to an inter-party politics.
To eliminate the clannism, the new constitution allowed for the only formation of three parties in the states. The three parties were to have aa certain percentage of domination in each of the six regions of Somaliland as such forcing inter-clan coalitions. As such, the government has played an essential role in uniting the Somaliland people and enhanced the delivery of peace and security within its borders to validate its legitimacy to its people. As much as the business elites effectively control the politics, there are specific influences that the leadership impacts on the people.
Islamic Insurgency in Somalia
On the other hand, Somalia has been contrary to what happens in Somaliland despite being neighbors. There has been political unrest and violence throughout the nation for several decades. Since 1991, the country can be termed to have been an archetypal failed state due to all failed attempts to establish a country that is centrally democratic with prevailing peace among its citizens. Any ruling government in the country has always been on the brink of collapsing due to attempts to be overtaken and overthrown by the consistent Islamic insurgents. The above has been amid help and intervention advanced by the neighbouring countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya since 2006.
The Western-style of leadership that had been practised in Somalia was perpetuated to post-independence. However, a robust centralized government system could not fit the performance of Somali’s traditional political structure and process. Therefore, the differences in the two systems, conventional and centralized form of governance lead to the creation of a fragile political, social, and economic environment of the formation of Somalia.
The Transitional Federal Government that has been internationally sponsored has even failed to manage to expand its authority to Mogadishu because of the aggravated resurgence of violence by the Islamic militia in 2006. The conflict between the Islamic army and the government has led to more refugees flowing into the neighbouring countries causing further political instability and strain on these nations as the group continues instilling fear to the people. The southern part of Somalia is gradually converted into a haven for the transnational jihadist terrorist to launch attacks in the region.
Because of the consistent conflict among its people, Somalia has been put on the world notice because of the terrorism and piracy issues and as such treated as the best in international indifference. There was the removal of the Islamic Courts Union by Ethiopia in 2006 which was then supplemented by the replacement of TFG in Mogadishu in the following year.
The above lead to the development of a complex insurgency in the south of Somalia. For close to a half a decade, the whole of the southern part had been captured by the armed group of the Islamic opposition Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islaam who were against the Ethiopian act of intervention into the activities of the nation since installed TFG failed to restore political stability in the country.
Al-Shabaab is the most influential group in Somalia that is attributed to the Islamic insurgency in the region. The name of the terrorism group means the youth. The group has imposed harsh Islamic laws that are referred to as Sharia which are based on their Saudi school to all the areas it controls most specifically Mogadishu. Some of the weird Islamic practices that they have subscribed to include the stoning of women to death if they commit adultery.
To an extreme extend, those found to have stolen or deal with drugs have been amputated as a form of punishment. The group is believed to recruit to majorly recruit ethnic Somalis that have grown up in other countries, especially the west. The group disrupts peace through the killing of people and of those who do not follow the Islamic doctrines.
Despite the existence of conflicts and acts of terrorism in the previous times, this new chaotic situation had formed an avenue for the formation and entry of other foreign Islamic Jihadist groups such as Al Qaeda. The group globalized the conflict experienced in Somalia by supporting extremist groups like Al-Shabaab through importing the tactic used by Al-Qaeda. The existence of these groups, together with their activities, has hindered the carrying out of the humanitarian tasks because of the prevailing insecurity conditions in the southern part of Somalia.
Regarding the 9/11 context, the perception of Somali with the jihadist terrorist groups controlling Mogadishu has been bought to the notion by the whole world. It is believed that Al-Qaeda is the mastermind that has influenced the structural role in the existing conflicts in Somalia and therefore, the surrogate force for the national insurgency. A closer observation of the nation depicts a contradiction with the neighboring Somaliland that is not touched by any acts of terrorism of the jihadist groups.
Al-Shabaab has been recognized as the most well-organized group in Somalia, trying to oppose all the practices of TFG. The terrorist group cannot be underestimated because it has gone further to make recruitments throughout the nation and even the neighboring ones creating a danger zone in the land. He commanders of the group have also defied and implemented their policies by providing certain public commodities and other alternatives to the youth in the areas that they exercise control.
The Al-Shabaab popularity has tremendously grown because of the authority that they portray and the rigoristic Islamic rule that they adhere to in the process of executing their acts of terrorism. As a terrorist group, Al-Shabaab is a large group composed of a military with both local and international intentions. According to research, only a few percentages of the group exhibit a transnational list.
Besides the Al-Shabaab, there is also another Islamic group causing insurgence in the region called Hizbul Islaam that was established in 2009. It was an alliance opposing the peacekeeping practices in Djibouti by the United Nations. The leadership of the group is in direct association with the Al-Shabaab military. The two at some point began to fight over some part of southern Somalia disrupting the peace of the citizens further inhibiting peacekeeping programs. The armed groups are a security and peace concern in the region for the international actors in general.
Conclusion
A lot of efforts have been advanced by both the local and international governments to combat the situation in Somalia. The above went to a further extent of having a former Islamic fighter as the president of the country together with the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from the state. However, the Islamic groups just termed the act to be a blackmail that was meant o hoax them and instead labelled the president a foreign puppet. They, therefore, continued to fight. Were it not for the military troops imported from other countries such as Uganda, Burundi, and some of the African Union countries to bring peace in the country, the government would have been toppled. Appeals have been made to states and the United Nations to send troops to the country. Still, interventions have always met harsh retaliation since the Islamic groups seem to exhibit an international interest rather than just for Somalia.
As compared to Somaliland, Somalia has for the past decade experienced chaos and turmoil resulting in a hard to survive environment for its citizens. The country is going through different forms of suffering. The transitional government is always in continuous engagement in the ever-ongoing conflict with the radical Islamic groups who make the country vulnerable to the risk of being turned to a haven for their military, and the Al-Qaeda inspired groups. As a result of regular fights, the country is afflicted by dire food shortage, inflation, and consistent piracy. However, as the country continues to wallow in Islamic insurgence, some people have targeted entry into Somaliland that is relatively quiet and a stable state. On the other hand, Somaliland is calm and peaceful where the leadership has made efforts to secure their sea coasts and made them free from piracy. Unlike Somalia, Somaliland has fought terrorism over the years through enabled institutions that efficiently work. They also have an intensified relationship with their neighboring countries such as Djibouti and Ethiopia.