Ismael M.H.

My key takeaways from this speech: 1️⃣ Somaliland is playing a high-stakes game of leverage with Somalia by using the international communities desire for talks to pressure HSM - calculating that he is unlikely to concede to the core demands set out by President @Abdirahmanirro 2️⃣ President @Abdirahmanirro is positioning Somaliland as a credible & dependable partner for international institutions - in an attempt to expand both the scale & scope of their development agenda in the country 3️⃣ The President also took the opportunity to deliberately reference the recognition by the State of Israel last year to signal that Somaliland is no longer the same unrecognised actor that sat at the table previously Can I see a scenario in which this strategy works, Yes! But can I also see a scenario in which this strategy doesn’t work, Yes! Success in my opinion hinges on if the president and his team are playing a long-term strategic game here rather than using its leverage for achieving quick-wins for domestic or local media consumption.