Here’s a nation which actually exists which Britain should recogniseOpinion by Sir Michael Ellis
December 28, 2025
Israel’s diplomatic skill, rather like its military prowess, is quite punchy and forward-leaning.
To prove this point, yesterday the Israelis took a bold, practical and pro-Western political step by recognising Somaliland, near the Gulf of Aden, as a sovereign independent state.
As this move shows, Israel’s diplomacy is rooted in old-fashioned realpolitik. Practical considerations win the day. Hence when Ireland adopted a morbidly anti-Israel stance the Israelis simply shut down their Embassy in Dublin. Likewise, there are rumours now in diplomatic circles that the Israelis are soon to sever relations with Norway after Oslo’s increasingly hostile invective against the world’s only Jewish state.
But Israel’s pragmatic focus is about progress, and it has recently announced it is opening new diplomatic relations with Bolivia and Fiji.
It is with Somaliland however that the strategic importance is crucial – and the West, including the UK, should quickly follow suit.
Somaliland is just across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen and is a curious anomaly in the region; it is an acutely Western-friendly Muslim nation which is also unique in the region as a vibrant democracy. It has a rapidly developing economy, respects women’s rights, keenly wants normalisation with the West, and in exchange for formal recognition from the US is apparently even willing to support the construction of an American military base on its coast, which would overnight be of huge strategic importance in that volatile region where the Houthis, one of Iran’s terrorist proxies, have been attacking international shipping lanes: ostensibly to hurt Israel but actually causing far more damage to the Egyptian and European economies. The United States heavily bombarded the Houthis earlier this year.
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Source:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/here-s-a-nation-which-actually-exists-which-britain-should-recognise/ar-AA1T98rt
