The U.N. rushed recognition of a government that lacked wide support.

Evidence

The U.N., in fact, had decided that its initiative was a success from the beginning and was not prepared to see whether ‘Abdulqassim and his ministers would actually succeed in winning public support on a sufficiently wide front to warrant the title ‘government’. Abdulqassim, obviously, had started off badly with a highly centralized political structure and by failing to honour his pledge to move the Somali capital to Baidoa. In its rush to legitimate his fledgling administration, the U.N. committed a more serious blunder by immediately granting the T.N.G. diplomatic recognition, and welcoming its representative to the Somali seat at the General Assembly. While some Arab states with Islamic and commercial links with the new leaders quickly followed suit, America and the European Union (despite persistent Italian pressures) prudently waited to see how Arta would go down in Somalia. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 684

Categorization

• SEED: Possible essay angle: how international bodies manufacture legitimacy by recognizing weak governments pre-emptively.
• XREF: connects to: International recognition was awarded to a phantom government while the functioning one was ignored.; Somaliland’s foundational 1993 Borama conference was funded and run locally without U.N. support; The UN endorsed the Arta government before determining its popular legitimacy (+2 more)

Related

• International recognition was awarded to a phantom government while the functioning one was ignored. (similarity 0.91)
• The UN endorsed the Arta government before determining its popular legitimacy (similarity 0.89)
• Somaliland’s foundational 1993 Borama conference was funded and run locally without U.N. support (similarity 0.87)
• The UN served as a propaganda arm disguising the Transitional National Government’s failures (similarity 0.85)
• International recognition rewarded a phantom government while ignoring the functioning Somaliland one (similarity 0.83)
• The UN recognized a non-existent Mogadishu government while ignoring the functioning Somaliland one. (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• The UN served as a propaganda arm disguising the Transitional National Government’s failures #corroborates (0.85) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 693
• International recognition rewarded a phantom government while ignoring the functioning Somaliland one #expands (0.80)