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Hey, Aren't You Somaliland and Puntland?

Sub-Saharan Africa

by  |  on October 6th, 2010  |  3 comments

I should have written about this last week, but the United States has taken steps to strengthen ties with Somaliland and Puntland, the two regions that have broken free from Somalia and which possibly represent the best real chance for success in the region. I am not suggesting that it is a good idea to abandon Somalia, but this sort of triage makes a great deal of sense for the most people, and certainly those of Somaliland and Puntland. Is United States recognition of their sovereignty next? As Texas in Africa says: “don’t count on it.” Still, there is no need to let the perfect be the enemy of the good, or even to let the good be the better of the salvageable.

 

Author

Derek Catsam

Derek Catsam is a Professor of history and Kathlyn Cosper Dunagan Professor in the Humanities at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. He is also Senior Research Associate at Rhodes University. Derek writes about race and politics in the United States and Africa, sports, and terrorism. He is currently working on books on bus boycotts in the United States and South Africa in the 1940s and 1950s and on the 1981 South African Springbok rugby team's tour to the US. He is the author of three books, dozens of scholarly articles and reviews, and has published widely on current affairs in African, American, and European publications. He has lived, worked, and travelled extensively throughout southern Africa. He writes about politics, sports, travel, pop culture, and just about anything else that comes to mind.

Areas of Focus:
Africa; Zimbabwe; South Africa; Apartheid

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