Somaliland finds itself at a critical juncture. On December 26, 2025, Israel became the first sovereign state to formally recognize Somaliland, which remains a partially recognized state. Somaliland’s journey getting to this point involved a long period of peacebuilding and state-building.
Following a decade of civil war in the country from 1982 to 1991, communities that had fought on opposing sides voluntarily negotiated, ceased hostilities, consolidated peace, and forged an inclusive democratic state from scratch without external involvement. Relying on culture-specific customs, Somalilanders were able to sustain large-scale cooperation and effectively tackle social dilemmas. A key characteristic of Somaliland’s formative peace and state-building period (1991-2001) is that all major decisions—with the exception of electing presidents—were reached through consensus.
Beyond Kinship
In a recently published article based on fieldwork, including interviews with key actors, I analyze Somaliland’s peace and state-building trajectory through the lens of cooperation and collective action. The article unpacks the cultural sources that fostered widespread pro-social behavior, which ultimately enabled Somalilanders to consolidate peace and build a functioning democratic state without external support. As detailed in the above-mentioned article, there are numerous examples of pro-social behavior that proved crucial during Somaliland’s gestation. These included, but were not limited to, interventions by elders, women, and members of the diaspora aimed at peacefully resolving conflicts and fostering reconciliation. The article shifts the focus of analysis from kinship—social relationships that tie people together— to the traditional legal system, xeer, and offers a reconceptualization of the latter.
The literature on Somaliland, which is overwhelmingly produced by non-Somalis, does occasionally discuss xeer as an explanatory and analytical framework, but subsumes it under the kinship system, places primacy on the latter, and views it as an overarching structure. Moreover, xeer is usually considered concrete contracts or treaties between social groups, with little to no attention allocated to xeer as a broader system offering meaningful and independent explanatory power.
In offering a reconceptualization of xeer, I suggest that it is better understood as a shared normative order that defines the “rules of the game,” governs socio-political relations, and which effectively functions as a regime – i.e., a political system. People in Somaliland share the same religion (Islam), speak the same language (Somali), share a common culture and history. Somaliland, in other words, is characterized by uniformity of values. By conforming to the values and beliefs of a society characterized by a high degree of homogeneity, xeer derives its greater legitimacy from society’s external ultimate sources of authority, namely Islam and Somali culture. This alignment turns xeer into a moral authority defining acceptable behavior. Put shortly, the contents of xeer are broadly considered legitimate by people in Somaliland. By exerting moral and normative constraint upon behavior, it induces pro-social behavior.
In addition to xeer, institutionalized and widespread socially rational behavior stemming from intercommunal interdependence also played a crucial role in fostering pro-social behavior. These mutually constitutive factors operate beyond and independently of the kinship structure.
Lessons from Somaliland
While meaningfully understanding Somaliland requires a deep dive into its social dimensions, exemplified by xeer, it is erroneous to assume that the country holds no valuable lessons for other societies. In important ways, Somaliland succeeded because of the lack of external intervention rather than despite it. By steering their own peacebuilding trajectory, Somalilanders were not constrained by external donors in terms of timeframes or institutional endpoints. They were free to proceed as they saw fit and to pursue solutions, they deemed appropriate. Most importantly, the absence of external intervention meant that Somalilanders themselves interpreted their culture and determined how best to tap into it.
Had Somaliland been subjected to external intervention, as was the case in Somalia, it is likely that external experts – often Global North scholars who usually lack linguistic competence and cultural literacy – would have been treated as the primary authorities on Somaliland’s culture, customs, institutions etc. This is indeed what happened in Somalia, with catastrophic consequences. The international community’s approach to peace and state-building in Somalia was strongly grounded in knowledge produced by non-Somalis, based on the assumption that kinship is the all-pervasive and overarching structure. The combination of excluding critical Somali scholars, and some domestic actors’ incentives to adopt the vocabulary and expectations of the international community, reinforced and reproduced the centrality of kinship.
In this sense, an important lesson from Somaliland is that people from conflict-affected societies are the primary authorities on their own culture, even when their interpretations clash with prevailing ideas and paradigms in Western academia. Much has been written about epistemic injustice, yet unfortunately, little has changed. Perhaps the most important lesson from Somaliland is that effective peacebuilding does not necessarily require external intervention, contrary to what is often assumed in mainstream peacebuilding theory. While the sources of pro-social behavior in Somaliland are context-specific, it is important to note that Somalilanders are not uniquely predisposed to socially rational conduct. Multidisciplinary research consistently shows that people are not merely narrowly self-interested. Rather, they usually care greatly about justice and fairness and are often willing to forego private payoffs for the collective good. Further research is needed to explore how this type of scholarship might inform peacebuilding.
Somaliland at a Crossroads With Challenges Ahead
For Israel, Somaliland represents a strategic asset, given its location in the Horn of Africa, directly across from Yemen. For Somaliland, the expectation was that diplomatic rapprochement with Israel would encourage other states – most notably the United States – to follow suit. While it is too soon to conclude the consequences of Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, it is worth noting that it has already amplified geo-strategic tensions on the Horn of Africa and in the Middle East.
Unsurprisingly, Somalia views Israel’s move as a violation of its sovereignty, a position supported by several regional actors, including Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Djibouti. The situation is further complicated by China’s firm backing of Somalia, driven in part by its opposition to Somaliland’s independence given Somaliland’s close ties with Taiwan. As a result, Somaliland finds itself at a critical juncture. It is increasingly uncertain whether it can continue in its current form over the next decade or two. Facing mounting pressure from multiple powerful actors, a significant shift in its status appears potentially decisive.
Keywords: Somaliland, Israel, Somali, Somalis, culture, pro-social behavior, Africa, Horn of Africa, peace, conflict, conflict resolution
Jamal Abdi
Jamal Abdi is a PhD candidate in International Relations at Keele University. His research focuses on self-led peacebuilding, state-building, and political legitimacy in conflict-affected societies, with a particular emphasis on Somaliland. Drawing on game theory and collective action literature, his work examines the large-scale collective action that enabled the consolidation of peace and the emergence of an inclusive democratic state in Somaliland. Abdi has published peer-reviewed research in journals including Peacebuilding and Northeast African Studies. In addition to his academic work, he is a political analyst who has appeared on media platforms such as Al Jazeera and i24NEWS, as well as other media outlets in Somaliland, Denmark, and the United States.
