Aar

In late December 2012, Hillary Clinton was scheduled to testify before Congress on the Benghazi consulate disaster that left four Americans dead, including a U.S. ambassador. But just one week before the hearing, she fainted, claimed a concussion, and postponed her appearance. It was the final stretch of her tenure as Secretary of State and the pressure to close out on a high note was palpable. A week after she was meant to testify Jake Sullivan emailed Hillary Clinton on December 29, 2012, and casually wrote, “I just thought of number 3,” referring to a personal list of items he wanted to accomplish for Hillary Clinton before January 25, 2013. That “number 3” turned out to be the recognition of Somalia’s transitional government an entity that, at the time, controlled little more than a few city blocks in Mogadishu and survived entirely on African Union protection and foreign donor funds. In a follow-up email to Clinton on December 30, titled “Thoughts and prayers”, Sullivan tells her he’s trying to “deliver for her” and casually slips in his plan to bring in the Somalian president so “you can announce recognition.” The tone is clear: this wasn’t a carefully debated policy decision it was a political gift. Clinton had just fainted days earlier and canceled her Benghazi testimony under mounting pressure. Her term was winding down, and Sullivan wanted to hand her a legacy moment to offset the damage. Thus, the so-called “One Somalia” policy was born not from regional progress or institutional development, but from internal optics. The U.S. bestowed formal recognition on a failed state still dependent on foreign troops and external funding, and in doing so, cemented a status quo that endures to this day. The recognition did not reflect any real control, capability, or legitimacy on the part of the Mogadishu government. It was a political deliverable designed to give Hillary Clinton a send-off headline: she brought Somalia “back” from the wilderness. Ironically, the architect of this move, Jake Sullivan became the National Security Advisor to President Biden. Under his watch, Somalia received record-breaking U.S. assistance, and the UN arms embargo meant to prevent weapons from flooding a fractured country has been lifted with Bidens support. But the truth remains: Somalia’s recognition was never earned. It was staged. A broken, aid-reliant regime was elevated to statehood status so a Secretary of State could leave office with a talking point. The “One Somalia” policy wasn’t the product of diplomacy it was an emotional gesture from a loyal staffer to his embattled boss. Somalia today is the legacy of Hillary Clinton and Jake Sullivan: a country recognized not for what it is, but for what they needed it to be a country recognized for emotional optics not institutional merit.

Somaliland 🤝Israel 🤝India🤝Free Iran Somaliland has joined to the walk for Israel in Toronto! Everyone’s favourite new country.