Somaliland: Legitimate or not?

Lucia Raso
Dec 26, 2024
1 min read

Updated: Feb 25, 2025

Somaliland has been peaceful and self-governing since 1991, which allowed it to fulfill the Montevideo Convention's statehood criteria. Still, it is not recognized because of present concerns regarding precedent for other secessionist movements around the world. The legal argument posed is based on international law such as uti possidetis, contradicts world politics that value stability over sovereignty.

Whereas this article attempts to shed light on Somaliland's legal basis for recognition and its status of complexity, it sets the delicate balance between legitimacy and international politics that leaves it in a diplomatic purgatory.

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