Hiiraan Online

Muuse Yuusuf
Monday, August 10, 2009

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s visit in Africa is a good start in America’s foreign policy in a continent that has always been the last item on policy makers’ agenda.  The tour, which will take her to seven countries, from Kenya to Cape Verde, officially began in Kenya-the birthplace of president Obam’s ancestors-when she opened the African Growth and Opportunity Forum, a round-table meeting for discussion on trade and economic issues. The visit is the logical conclusion of president Obama’s earlier visit to Egypt in which he was trying to improve his country’s image and relation with the Muslim world with his historical speech at the Cairo Al-Azhar University, and also his visit to Ghana in which he showed America’s support of the full-fledging democracy in Ghana in a continent where dictatorship and autocratic regimes are the norm.

Although the visit in East Africa was probably meant to raise the profile of the Forum and the importance of trade and economic issues to the continent if Africans are to lift their populace out of poverty, it seemed though the visit was hijacked by the secretary of state’s meeting with a Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a not so known political figure and president of Somalia, a not so lucky and forgotten country, which has been plagued by civil war since 1991. Newspaper were full of headlines, declaring Hillary Clinton meets the beleaguered Somali president, a moderate Muslim, who has been taunted by radical “Islamist” elements that are trying to topple him. 

The visit reminds me of president Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke’s 1960s visit in Washington. As head of a new republic liberated from colonial powers, he met Kennedy just like president Sharif, head of a country that is coming out of a long civil war, has met with US state secretary. After 49 years of independence the feeling of most Somalis right now is that our country’s affairs are worse than they were in 1950s and 1960s. What a sad story.

Anyway, for me as African and Somali, I found two important and interesting outcome/messages that stand out of the Hillary Clinton’s recent visit in Africa.

The first is the historic handshake of Sheikh Sharif and Hillary Clinton a woman but a very important person and a foreign policy maker of the most powerful states in the world. The handshake was warm and cordial. The teacher-cum-cleric-cum-president did not seem shy or inhibited by the event. He looked relaxed, an outgoing man who was happy to meet one of the most powerful women in world. He comfortably and confidently placed his black hand firm but gently on the lady’s white palm. His hand on the top while hers down as though supporting, nurturing, protecting and reassuring the troubled president who is often awakened in the middle of the night by mortar shell and gunfire by “Islamist” and spoilers of peace. The new friends were comfortable with each other’s company. Their big smiles and glitter in their eyes said it all; the only thing that was missing was the first kiss in a love affair at first sight!!

Although arguably Somali men traditionally do not find inhibited by shaking hands with a woman – a fellow human being – however due to the recent raise of extremism, it has probably been becoming harder and harder to do so and therefore the handshake is a slap in the face of extremism, as it is a victory for secular forces. The message from the handshake is loud and clear: if Sharif, supposedly head of the state, has done it, every citizen is allowed to and can do so!! He has actually done what other fellow Muslim leaders such as Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, would have done.

Besides the above symbolic handshake gesture, the real politics on the ground seem to have started promisingly.

As Obama has done in his recent tour in Africa, the secretary of state has conveyed to Africans a message of partnership between the continent and her country and not American patronage and imperialism. This is very important if it is put in the context of previous US involvement in Somalia from the Operation Restore Hope in early 1990s in which by deploying thousands of troops in the country, the US was seen as an imperialist force with a jingoistic attitude. Although that great American adventure could have helped end the civil war, that mission failed  because the then Bush (senior) administration did not have the political will and gut to stay put to finish off the job (reconstitute a viable state) as America’s power and political determination had helped in ending civil wars in the Balkan region. However the death of few American soldiers was enough to withdraw its troops from the country leaving behind power vacuum.

This time, by publicly endorsing the National Unity Government, the outcome of the Djibouti reconciliation process that is seen by many as the best chance for restoring peace and stability in the country, the USA seems to want to help Somalia. This is a great departure from previous Bush (junior) administration’s foreign policy in the country in which the administration tried to clandestinely support the infamous Mogadishu warlords. That policy has backfired and failed after warlords were defeated by the then the Islamic Courts Union.

Although the current government is opposed by a punch of “Islamist” militants, disgruntled politicians, remnants of previous governments, war profiteers,  to be fair this government enjoys more legitimacy and is popular - whatever “legitimacy” and  “popularity” means in Somalis current political turmoil - than any other previous governments reconstituted since 1991.

Yes, it is true that in normal situations governments are legitimate when elected by their people. However, in civil war scenarios where public institutions have collapsed some governments have to be reconstituted through a process of selection. For example by selecting the most prominent and revered leaders, scholars, religious figures and elders from society. This is exactly what has been happening in Somalia since the collapse of state. And this how the current government came about. Compare this Government to previous ones then you can decide for yourself, which one seems to be more popular and legitimate?

In world political history, there are many occasions in which governments were either reconstituted by force and through a selection process. Therefore this government is not the first and will not be the last to come about through that. Obviously the government is not perfect but international community’s support (IGAD, OIC, EU, AU, Arab League) in building government institutions is the right thing to do because one has got to start from somewhere to reconstitute a viable state until people are ready to elect their governments.

In addition to Hillary Clinton meeting with the president, recent efforts by Congressman Donald Payne, Chairman of subcommittee on Africa and Global Health in bringing stakeholders (Somaliland, Puntland, TFG) under one roof for dialogue and reconciliation was a historic landmark in America’s policy. This is the kind of soft power which the US and other countries need to use  in order to bang and bash heads together because this method is much cheaper but more powerful and effective than any other methods. So please keep on inviting these institutions to your Congress House in the hope that one day wise men with listening ears might listen to your wisdom and learn from your country’s experience as united states under a federal system.

And finally, as African, the secretary’s visit impressed me in one way or another. The secretary of state’s visit to other troubled African countries such as Liberia, Congo, Angola, and Nigeria in order to talk about issues ranging from rampant corruption, trade, natural resources, HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence and so  on is the right step toward strengthening state institutions in those countries. Because visits by high foreign dignitaries in countries recovering from civil strife give confidence and legitimacy and international recognition to those leaders that are struggling to restore law and order in their countries, for example president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, the only woman president in a continent dominated by men. I hope that president Sirleaf will find comfort and courage in Hillary Clinton’s presence in her country. Hopefully next time the secretary of state will visit a united and prosperous Somalia that is led by a patriot Somali mother.