Somalia’s pursuit of pan-Somali self-determination forced it into a superpower military deal.

Evidence

Before independence the UN Somali Trusteeship government was active in the Afro-Asian movement that predated the Non-Aligned Movement and joined the movement once liberation was achieved in 1960. It seemed to the Somali leadership that the republic’s nonaligned status would give the nation the opportunity to freely deal with all nations on the basis of mutual respect. But this wish was constrained by three structural factors that defined Somalia’s postindependence context. First, the republic was committed to the principle of self-determination of Somalis in French Somaliland, in Somali Ethiopia, and the Northern Frontier Districts of the Kenya colony. Second, as a result of this first condition, Somalia needed to build its defensive forces but completely lacked the resources to do so. Consequently, it had to make a deal with either the United States or the USSR, the two global blocs, which challenged its desire for nonalignment. Third, Somali cultural orientation as an open and democratic political order was at odds with the opportunistic and sectarian elements of the political elite whose interest was more aligned with the wishes of the cold warriors. The interplay between these factors created serious dilemmas for the second republic. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 840

Categorization

• XREF: Pays off the irredentist/self-determination commitments laid out in earlier chapters and anticipates the 1977 Ogaden war.