White House to cut back on United Nations assistance while there is continued military and diplomatic interference by Washington and Tel Aviv.
Originally published in Fighting Words.
A recent announcement by the administration of United States President Donald Trump that it will withdraw monetary support for the United Nations Mission in the Horn of Africa state of Somalia has further endangered the capacity for national unity and economic growth.
This country and the broader region have been long coveted by the US and its allies due to its strategic location near the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Indian Ocean.
It should not be surprising that these discussions around the future of imperialist involvement in Somalia and the Horn of Africa have resurfaced in light of the failure of the US and Israel to defeat the Islamic Republic of Iran and its allies in West Asia. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the possibility of similar military tactics being utilized by the Ansar Allah resistance movement in Yemen related to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait has caused panic on an international level.
The sharp rise in commodity prices including oil has caused severe distress in international markets as the impact of the US-Israeli war against Iran is being felt throughout other geo-political regions across the globe. Even though Trump and his cabinet have dismissed widespread concerns among people living in the US over rising prices, the majority of the population have expressed opposition to the foreign policy of the administration.
Prospects for oil exploration and drilling in Somalia have existed for decades although these plans have never reached fruition. Decades-long imperialist interference in the internal affairs of Somalia has spawned separatist enclaves and armed insurgencies which have hampered the attainment of peace and security inside the country.
These external and internal problems can easily be viewed as a cause for the humanitarian crisis involving food deficits and threats of renewed famine. Despite the billions of dollars which have gone into reshaping the security apparatus of Somalia, there are millions of people still facing starvation and lack of water resources.
A recently published report from Radio Dalsan on the status of US and UN assistance to Somalia notes that:
âThe United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) has opened a tender seeking licensed auctioneers to sell off a wide range of its vehicles, generators and other equipment in Somalia, a notice published on the UN Global Marketplace shows. The call for expressions of interest, issued August 6, comes as Washington moves to cut off funding for the UNâs logistical support mission by the end of 2026, deepening uncertainty over the future of international backing for Somaliaâs fight against al-Shabab. The tender matters now because it lands at the center of a widening rift between the United States and the United Nations over how and whether to keep supporting Somaliaâs security transition. UNSOS underpins the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), supplying transport, fuel, food and other non-lethal supplies to roughly 12,000 African troops and police fighting a resilient insurgency. Any wind-down of that support network would strike at the core of the missionâs ability to operate.â
However, the possibility of a shutdown of the UN Mission which coordinates the African Union Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) does not mean the end of imperialist machinations in the country as well as the entire Horn of Africa region. Although the Trump administration has formally withdrawn from a number of international bodies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Climate Agreement as well as liquidating the Agency for International Development (USAID), this does not mean that they are disengaging from world affairs.
The administration in Washington has advanced proposals to replace the assistance to African states by the WHO and USAID by negotiating bilateral agreements. Some AU member-states have accepted the Trump administration proposals while others have rejected them.
Pentagon Moves into Puntland While Israel Recognizes Somaliland
In Somalia, the most widely known breakaway areas are Somaliland and Puntland. These two areas located in the north of the country have not been recognized as independent entities by the United Nations or the African Union.
The operational independence of these breakaway areas is a direct result of the collapse of the previous military government of General Mohamed Siad Barre during 1991. Despite this 35-year-old dispute, the Federal capital in Mogadishu continues to claim sovereignty over these regions of the country.
Nonetheless, the divisions which exist in Somalia makes it prone to imperialist and zionist interference which have implications for the entire country and the Horn of Africa region. In the period leading up to the presidential and congressional elections of 2024, it was reported that a second Trump administration would recognize Somaliland as an independent state.
Although formal recognition by Washington of Somaliland has not occurred as of yet, the State of Israel has established diplomatic relations with this breakaway area. This action by Tel Aviv prompted large demonstrations in Mogadishu condemning the zionist settler-colonial state for its role in the internal affairs of Somalia.
These developments have implications which extend beyond diplomatic recognition. The threat of further international conflict in the Horn of Africa and West Asia remains. A potential merger of the geopolitical struggles in the Horn of Africa and West Asia could easily result in a further deteriorating securing situation.
One source, which studies the US-Israeli axis in their attempts to seize control over areas throughout both geopolitical regions, indicates that the risk of instability has risen to higher levels. The impact of diplomatic recognition of Somaliland by Tel Aviv as well as Washingtonâs reconfiguration of its imperialist project in the Horn of Africa, could very well result in a broader conflict.
The Geopolitical Monitor website says of the current situation:
âOn June 1, the Global Conflict Index published a report documenting how conflicts in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa risk merging into a singular conflict system. While functionally independent of each other, overlapping interests and actors are blurring the lines between these conflicts. Two aspects of the above report are particularly concerning regarding developments between Israel and Somaliland. The first is the role of âbridging statesâ like Israel in merging conflict systems â states that are structurally embedded and pursuing interests in both regions. The second aspect is the single âshockâ that precipitates the two conflict theaters fusing together. Any number of events could act as the trigger. Israelâs activity in Somaliland is one such risk. Overlapping strategic interests in Somaliland, great power politics in the Horn of Africa, and ripple effects from the Iran war have combined to render the policy of diplomatic recognition far more dangerous than originally envisioned.â
Furthering this possible merger of the two conflict zones is the reports of US escalation of its military presence in Puntland. If there is a heightened US presence in Puntland it could easily attract the attention of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Yemen.
The potential for greater instability related to the worsening capacity of the Federal government in Mogadishu to provide security for the state, may in the short term, provide a rationale for the deployment of more Pentagon troops into Somalia and the entire Horn of Africa region. Consequently, the foreign policy of the Trump administration can only exacerbate the already precarious security situation in the region.
Responsible Statecraft says in a report on the expansion of Pentagon presence in the breakaway areas of Somalia, that:
âIn early August, the top U.S. special operations commander for Africa signed a security agreement with the president of Puntland â a semi-autonomous region in northeastern Somalia â to expand the American military installation there. The deal surfaced through a short statement from the Puntland government. âUnder the agreement, the United States will expand its military base in Bosaso to improve operations against terrorism and to help protect maritime security,â the Puntland Government of Somalia wrote in a statement. âThe Puntland state remains committed to fighting terrorism and any threat that could harm the security, stability, and development of Puntland, Somalia, and the Horn of Africa.â There are few details regarding the arrangement, which has no public text and has not yet been confirmed by the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) or anybody in Washington.â
Unity is the Only Solution
Therefore, observers inside of Africa and internationally should not be confused by the rhetoric of the Trump administration which says it is resolving conflicts and downsizing its presence in the Global South. Since the beginning of the second non-consecutive term of Trump, the international situation has been marked by escalating wars in Africa, Latin America and West Asia.
The AU along with other interested mass organizations and political parties on the continent have no choice except advocating greater unity within and between the 55-member states. As long as the imperialists and their allies can divide and conquer African states, there can be no progress in regard to economic development and political stability.
Abayomi Azikiwe is the Editor of Pan-African News Wire.
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