Publication

The overall objective of this paper is to provide a detailed account and analysis of the political development of Somaliland and its conflict with Puntland. In 1991, Somaliland emerged as an autonomous entity in this turbulent region after unilaterally declaring its independence from the rest of Somalia. Over the past eighteen years Somaliland has managed to display an enviable measure of peace and stability. Somaliland has thus been depicted as ‘an oasis of stability in an otherwise chaotic Somali regional environment’. The accomplishments of Somaliland, however, have been overshadowed by the lack of international recognition of its statehood and also its territorial dispute with neighbouring Puntland.