التالى السابق

Ignoring the aspirations of South Yemen and Somaliland to regain their independence is a weak point in American foreign policy

Analytics - 13 day ago

 American researcher Michael Rubin - The National Security Journal

 Prominent American researcher Michael Rubin said in an analytical article published in “The National Security Journal” that the return of the states of South Yemen and the Republic of Somaliland to their previous status as “independent” states serves American interests and American national security, and that the US State Department’s refusal to recognize the demands of the two countries will remain a weak point in foreign policy.  For the United States of America.

 The American researcher added in his article: It is true that the US State Department is afraid to support the demands of South Yemen and Somaliland for independence for fear that it will also encourage many movements demanding secession in many countries such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, the Republic of the Congo, and even in Russia and China, but the researcher believes that this approach that  The US State Department adopts it, which is ambiguous and needs to be reviewed. There is a difference between countries that were independent and entered into merging unity with neighboring countries, but their experience of unity failed and they want to return to their previous status as independent countries, and between political movements that aspire to separate from their countries, and this is what the US State Department ignores.

 In the course of his article, the researcher said that the US State Department must take into account the long history of experiences of countries that united and failed to unite and decided to “disengage” and enumerated the most prominent “disengagement” experiences between countries that united and whose experiences failed in unity and returned to their previous status as independent countries, the most prominent of which are:

 • Unity between Egypt and Syria on February 22, 1958, and the formation of what was known at the time as the “United Arab Republic.” After President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s success in nationalizing the Suez Canal, he became a national hero in the Arab world. An immediate union took place between Egypt and Syria, but that marriage did not last long. On September 28, 1961  Army officers turned against the regime in Syria and announced the restoration of the independent Syrian state.

 • In the same context, what was known at the time as the “Arab Hashemite Union” took place between Jordan and Iraq, which came in response to the union of Egypt and Syria, but that experiment in integration unity quickly failed after the revolutionaries overthrew the monarchy in Iraq in 1958.

 • Researcher Robin adds that in Africa, the colonial powers drew borders with little interest in ethnic and linguistic differences. In December 1950, the United States supported the union between Ethiopia and Eritrea.  Once again, this union was not a happy one, and in 1991, Eritrea regained its independence with the support of the United States itself.

 • The researcher adds: In the year 1981, The Gambia agreed to merge with Senegal in a confederal system, and the two countries agreed to unify the currency, army, and economy to form what was known at the time as “confederated Senegal,” but that attempt quickly failed, and in 1989 The Gambia decided to disengage from Senegal and return to its previous status.  As an independent state, and in the same context, many countries that entered into unity with neighboring countries tended to "disengage", which is what happened with East Timor, which gained its independence after a quarter of a century of unity with Indonesia. In the same way, many countries became independent after the collapse of the Soviet Union and became  The United States of America today enjoys warm diplomatic relations with it.

 • Returning to the long history of the United States of America’s recognition of countries that decided to “disengage” from the countries that went to unite with them as a result of the failure of those unhappy union experiments, the refusal of the United States of America today to recognize the aspirations of the peoples of South Yemen and Somaliland to disengage and restore their independent states is considered...  An “anomalous” situation, especially since both countries had previously been recognized. US Secretary of State Charles Herter congratulated Somaliland on its independence in 1960, and the US State Department officially recognized the state of South Yemen in 1967.

 • The researcher adds: Both countries entered into an merging unit with neighboring countries, so Somaliland joined the former Italian colonies to form the “Republic of Somalia,” and the two countries in North and South Yemen merged after the fall of the Soviet Union and formed the “Republic of Yemen.” Just as the Somali dictator Siad Barre launched a campaign of genocide  Against the Ishaqs, the dominant clan in Somaliland, Yemeni dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh has long marginalized Yemen's "southerners" in his quest for hegemony.

 • Michael Rubin says at the conclusion of his article: Today, both Somaliland and South Yemen outperform the governments recognized by the United States. Somalia is the most corrupt country in the world and a haven for Islamic extremism, whose government sold its national interests and natural resources in exchange for Chinese and Turkish money.  .  Somaliland, on the other hand, is a stable democratic state allied with Taiwan and is doing its duty to protect its lands from the presence of terrorists, pirates, and arms smugglers. While the Houthis are strengthening their control over a large part of northern Yemen, the rule of the Southern Transitional Council in southern Yemen remains the only functioning government in the country.  He is the one who rules the only safe area in Yemen.

 • The American researcher points out at the conclusion of his article that there are no justified fears that prevent the United States of America from recognizing the aspirations of the people of Somaliland and South Yemen to restore their independent states, whether directly or after an internationally supervised referendum. Unlike other secessionist movements, Somaliland and South Yemen were  Independent countries recognized by the United Nations and with borders that were previously recognized by the United States upon their independence, noting that the security that both countries can provide in an unstable region will be of invaluable value for freedom of international navigation, independent shipping, and confronting the expansion of Iranian influence in Yemen.  And Chinese and Turkish influence in Somalia.