WHAT OPTIONS DOES SOMALIA HAVE TO COUNTER ETHIOPIAN THREAT UNDER ADDIS MOU?

WDM EDITORIAL

By issuing this infamous MOU with a regional administration of Northwest Regions of Somalia (Somaliland), Ethiopia has directly violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of her neighbor Somalia in total disregard of historical burden between the two countries. It looks that the Ethiopian leader, Abiy Ahmed, is a poor student of history. Even his late boss, Melez Zenawi, fared better with regards to Ethio-Somali centuries-old relationships. He is also a poor reader of current affairs, political and security climate of the region and beyond. Not to talk about the security and economic calamities of his own country, he isn’t reading about the threat of extremism and religious fanatics to both nations and further. Cooperation for mutual benefits between nations isn’t, perhaps, in his books, thus making him among the most dangerous leaders in the world. Clearly, his ill-gotten Nobel Prize is a demonstration of mockery of the Norwegian Institution.

For Somalia, what options does she have to counter this grave and existential threat from Ethiopia? Is diplomatic offensive alone to expose Ethiopian aggression enough? Is rupture of all diplomatic ties with that country an option? Is offering foreign military bases to seemingly friendly countries in Somalia to counter-balance Ethiopia’s another option? Is seizing Somaliland Administration by Somali armed forces a way out to neutralize this renewed Ethiopian threat? What isn’t an option for Somalia, under any circumstance though, is negotiation with the aggressor on Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Period.

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