Will Somaliland have unlikely ally in the White House soon?

Will Somaliland have an unlike ally in the White House soon? That’s the question many Somalilanders are asking themselves after the emergence of decade years-old New York Times Op-ed in the midst of the U.S presidential election year. 

The Democratic Candidate, Peter Buttigieg, and winner of Iowa Caucus has visited Somaliland in the summer of 2008 and called for its recognition.

Pete Buttigieg, the Democratic candidate for president, is the mayor of South Bend, a small town in the State of Indiana. But before that, and before becoming one of the front runners of the democratic primaries, he was a management consultant with Mckinsey. In the summer of 2008, he visited Somaliland as a tourist. 

The country made an impression on the 26-year-old prodigy that he wrote an opinion piece about it at the New York Times. 

Although titled Tourists in Somaliland, the piece was hardly about tourism in the country. It rather argued that the United States was failing to support Somaliland’s democracy and for initiating a formal recognition process.

After listing Somaliland’s accomplishments up to that point, Buttigieg argued that the international community was not only ignoring them but endangering them.

He noted that Somaliland without international recognition could not engage in bilateral trade agreements or exploiting its natural resources.

Twelve years later, Buttigieg, which is now ex-Mayor Pete, is likely to emerge the Democratic candidate for the U. S president. So far he had not repeated his sentiments on Somaliland in his bid for the presidency.