Surveys

What Somalilanders Want From Foreign Policy: A National Opinion Survey

Published
30 November 2025
Author
MAAN Research Desk
Length
29 pages

Abstract

A national survey of public attitudes toward recognition strategy, regional relationships, foreign investment, and the trade-offs citizens are and are not willing to accept in pursuit of international standing.

Key findings

  1. 01Recognition remains the dominant foreign-policy priority across regions and age groups.
  2. 02Respondents strongly prefer economic and security partnerships over aid relationships.
  3. 03Support for engagement is high, but conditional on transparency about the terms.
  4. 04Younger respondents show markedly higher interest in direct participation in advocacy.

Related Publications

Policy Paper48 pp

The Recognition Roadmap: A Sequenced Strategy for Somaliland's International Standing

Recognition is rarely granted as a single verdict; it accumulates through functional agreements, commercial stakes, and first movers acting on concrete interests. This paper sets out a five-stage ladder — presence, function, economics, politics, precedent — and applies it to twelve priority capitals, with indicative sequencing, resource requirements, and measures of progress at each stage.

28 July 2026Somaliland Foreign Policy
Conference Summary18 pp

Hargeisa Forum on Diplomacy and Global Affairs 2026 — Proceedings

Proceedings from the institute's convening of officials, researchers, diaspora representatives, and international participants in Hargeisa, covering the recognition strategy, Red Sea positioning, and diplomatic capacity-building, with the agreed follow-up actions arising from each session.

27 February 2026Somaliland Foreign Policy
Op-Ed4 pp

Somaliland Needs a Diplomatic Academy — and It Needs One Now

Institutions outlive individuals, and Somaliland's international case has for too long depended on a small number of exceptional people. This commentary argues that a standing training pipeline — modest, practical, and started immediately — would compound in value regardless of how long the recognition question takes to resolve.

2 August 2026Somaliland Foreign Policy

Need analysis on a question like this?

MAAN takes commissions from governments, institutions, and international partners.

Commission Research