Taiwan’s Diplomatic Overtures to Somaliland: Perceptions and Implications for Somalia-China Relations, and the Somali Conflict
2023 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 14 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
This thesis explores how leaders and officials of Somaliland and the Somali Federal Government (SFG) perceive Taiwan’s recent diplomatic overtures to Somaliland. The thesis also investigates how this new relationship affects Somalia-China relations, as well as Somaliland’s international recognition and the internal political dynamics in the Somali region. To achieve this, it combines perspectives from social constructivism, neoclassical realism, and the polity model. Using process tracing and Qualitative Content Analysis to examine a rich collection of data including official documents, speeches, and audio-visual materials. It finds that Taiwan’s engagement with Somaliland is perceived drastically differently due to divergent political visions and aspirations. Somaliland’s leadership and officials welcome Taiwan’s presence and hope to gain economic and strategic benefits from it. The SFG, on the other hand, strongly opposes Taiwan’s involvement in Somaliland and considers it a violation of its core interests. The thesis further argues that the Somaliland-Taiwan partnership will likely bring Mogadishu and Beijing closer together prompting them to counter Taiwan’s influence in Somaliland. Furthermore, it suggests that Taiwan’s support for Hargeisa will affect the political dynamics in the disputed northern borderlands where Somaliland claims sovereignty but faces challenges from local actors.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2023. , p. 44
Keywords [en]
Somaliland, Taiwan, Somalia, China, perceptions, implications, visions and aspirations
National Category
Political Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-62182OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-62182DiVA, id: diva2:1792574
Educational program
KS GPS International Relations
Supervisors
Examiners
2023-09-122023-08-292023-09-13Bibliographically approved