Armed Forces to Somalia? We say NO

Bundestag decides training mission with 20 soldiers - Friedensratschlag: What sounds harmless, a harsh reality - There is no military solution

From Federal Friedensratschlag

Berlin / Kassel  - On the occasion of the parliamentary debate on the request of the Federal Government to support the EU-led military training mission in Somalia with up to 20 German soldiers, explain the Speaker of the Federal Committee Friedensratschlag in a statement:

The wealth of the country attracts:

The geo-strategically located in a prominent location at the junction of Africa and Asia, Somalia is a potentially very rich country. Already in a 1991 published list of World Bank-degradable oil resources ranked Somalia before the Sudan at No. 1 among eight countries in Africa. The Somali sources are therefore "huge," as "promising" or as. For about two-thirds of the country holding U.S. corporations since the late 80s concessions but are not used because of the civil war since the early 90s. Meanwhile, other Western companies have been added to take advantage of the concessions in independent from Somalia Somaliland and Puntland in the north. Also, the offshore area along the coast on the Indian Ocean is licensed. With support from the West and the UN installed in September 2012 government of President Hassan Mohamud tried since October 2013 international oil and gas companies to retrieve to Somalia to explore the abundant resources. This can of course only happen in pacified areas.

Foreign troops so far no lasting impact:

Due to the increase of the African Union forces (AMISOM), which are mainly composed of soldiers from Uganda and Burundi, the Shabaab militias were pushed back in August 2011 from Mogadishu. A further increase of AMISOM to 10,000 soldiers (December 2011) and the use of Ethiopian and Kenyan troops allowed offensives, so the Shabaab had to give up of them still held cities. Despite a further increase of AMISOM troops to 18,000 troops in June 2013 and the EU training mission for Somali army (since April 2010), spread the Shabaab militias their territory, since December 2013, and intensify their guerrilla attacks in Somali and Kenyan cities, especially since the beginning.

The "good" and "evil" in Somalia:

The Islamist Shabaab is considered Al-Qaeda affiliate and is fought as such by the United States by special forces and drone attacks, according to experts, it is not, however, but operates independently of al-Qaeda and has a national agenda, to the overthrow of the government aims in Mogadishu. Your benefits from the fact that they can denounce this as stooges of foreign powers, for the salaries of the AMISOM troops are paid by the EU, its armament pay the United States. The Somali government is largely protected by foreign troops and support, because while AMISOM currently has about 22,000 soldiers from six African countries, the strength of the Somali army is specified with only 10,000 what is commonly used, however, to be too high. Right now are over 3,000 Shabaab fighters. In addition, the reputation of the U.S. in Somalia is poor, since U.S. troops in 1993 at her brutal intervention in the civil war killed 6000-10000 Somalis and contribute to the radicalization of the Shabaab drone attacks. The Shabaab militias are a small alliance of Somali sub-clans with mostly foreign jihadist fighters who do not feel represented in the government formed by large clans in Mogadishu.

EU mandate and mission of the Bundeswehr for the "good" is counter-productive:

The EU Training Mission puts on a military solution in favor of a part of Somali society, which is represented in the government. This government came in February at the UN into disrepute because she had secretly passed on arms sales to clan chiefs, who then appeared on arms markets and ended up in the hands of Shabaab militias. It is not even the size of this "systematic" (UN) violation of the UN arms embargo could be determined. The EU training of the Somali army is proving to be counterproductive, because of the previously newly trained 3,600 Somali soldiers, many lay on the street robbery against their countrymen, because their low pay is paid only irregularly, or they close, well trained, the dozens and better paid to private militias.

Only 20 soldiers - but of great symbolic significance:

All federal governments are striving since the end of the confrontation, to give means of the Bundeswehr's foreign policy a military coat. 1993 formed the large-scale deployment of the Bundeswehr with 1,700 soldiers in Somalia the first of a seemingly endless chain of military missions abroad. He failed miserably. Bundeswehr missions abroad to meet a wide rejection in the population. 75 percent oppose an extension of the Bundeswehr missions. Now the federal government is trying with a number of smaller military operations to lower their sights to erheischen acceptance in the population. The up to 20 Bundeswehr instructors draw on the grounds of the AMISOM troops in Mogadishu, thereby strengthening the wrong political approach of a military solution.

We say also that Somalia-use, as the first in 1993, wrong:

The use of 20 German soldiers for the purpose of training of Somali military personnel seems to be harmless. Nevertheless, he is - in connection with the anti pirate action "Atalanta" off the Somali coast, on which the decision of the Federal Government specifically advised - embedded in the Africa policy of the federal government, which should ultimately serve to secure resources and refugee defense. In addition, the tasks and the "Performing strategic consulting the Somali General Staff and of Defense "should belong. Thus, the German participants are brought to the mission directly with the Somali leadership in conjunction and thus get the attention of the insurgents. What sounds harmless, can end up bitter.

It can in this civil war is no military solution against: 

Only negotiations, the first goal must be a ceasefire, leading to a balance of interests. To promote a negotiation process, it is necessary to conditions that are hindering negotiations break down. These include the presence of foreign troops in Somalia Drone attacks by the U.S. and the intervention of U.S. Special Forces in the Civil War. In addition, an arms embargo should be imposed again that includes handguns. Just as the conditions can be created to give the hard-hit by war Somali people a chance to use their resource-rich country - finally free of war, famine and flight.

For the Federal Friedensratschlag:
Peter Strutynski (Kassel)
Lühr Henken (Berlin)

Source: scharf-links.de

Somaliland:Turkish Airlines will begin Flights to the Country in June 2014

Istanbul, Turkey - Somaliland Minister of Aviation and Air Transport Hon Mahmoud Abdi Hashi who is currently on working in Ankara, Turkey has meet with top officials of the Turkish Airlines to discuss plans by the international carrier to start flights to Egal International Airport soon.

In a press statement released by the official spokesperson in the ministry of Civil Aviation and Air transport Mr. Saddam Mohamed Ahmed and which stated as follows:-

The Minister of Civil Aviation and Air Transport Hon Mahmoud Hashi Abdi has meet with top Turkish officials and which he began by saying “we hope a very fruitful outcome from the talks; we are at the moment discussing technical matters.

The Aviation Minister flanked by two legal experts from the Somaliland Ministry of Civil Aviation and Air Transport meet with His counterpart Turkish Minister of Aviation and Transport Mr. Lutti Elvin, of whom they discussed several issues including the ongoing air control management talk with Somalia of which they expect to find long term solution to the problem and how Turkey government can assist Somaliland by upgrading the Egal International Airport.

On the hand Somaliland Minister of Civil Aviation meet with the CEO of Turkish Airlines Dr. Temel Ikotil to discuss plans by the Turkish Airlines to begin flights to Somaliland Airports in June, 2014 with the first expected to land at Egal International Airport, Hargeisa.

Somaliland Delegation also meets with the officials from the Office of Turkish Prime Minister deputy director of TIKA Mr. Sureyya Polat to discussed ways in which the Turkish government can contribute and help in promoting sustainable developments in Somaliland, Hon Mahmoud Hashi Abdi gave the deputy director of TIKA   a proposal for the upgrading of Egal International Airport.

The Deputy Director of TIKA pledged his agency would send a team to do the assessment and evaluated   the which areas need assistance most ,he also promised that the Turkish development aid agency would donated and deliver a modern fire fighting vehicle to be used at the Egal International Airport this April.

Source: somalilandpress.com

Somaliland: Sheffield Becomes the First City in the World to Recognise Somaliland's Independence

Hargeisa — On Wednesday 2 April, Sheffield City Council in the UK voted to pass a motion recognising Somaliland's right to self-determination, and calling on “the British government to recognise Somaliland as an independent state and to encourage other governments around the world to do the same.”

The historic debate was tabled by Councillor Mohammad Maroof who yesterday received over 2,000 signatures from the Somaliland community in Sheffield, petitioning the council to support recognition.

The Foreign Minister of Somaliland, the country's most senior statesman aside from the President, Mohamed Bihi Yonis spoke in the Council Chamber, “Somaliland is a peaceful, democratic nation, which has been striving to be recognised by the international community since declaring independence in 1991. Sheffield's decision will help strengthen our campaign for recognition.”

Councillor Neale Gibson (Lab) noted that “Somaliland fulfils all the criteria for statehood required by international law. A permanent population. A defined territory. A government. And the capacity to enter into relations with other states.”

Councillor Ben Curran (Lab) said "We hope that Sheffield's support is just the first step to helping Somaliland fulfil its right to self-determination."

Councillor Julie Dore (Lab) said “We fundamentally believe in Somaliland's right to self-determination.”

The Energy Minister of Somaliland Hussein Abdi Dualeh thanked local Labour MPs Paul Blomfield and Clive Betts as well as City Councillors for their support of Somaliland's independence.

Somaliland sees this as an important, breakthrough moment for their campaign to be recognised as an independent nation by the international community. Their Independence Day will be celebrated around the world on 18 May.

This Friday, 4 April, Sheffield Central MP Paul Blomfield will be speaking at ISRAAC, the Somali Community and Cultural Association, in support of Somaliland's case for recognition.

Beyond all of the Africa clichés

An encounter with the British-Somali author Nadifa Mohamed....From Marko Martin

Please, no so-called world literature! "Not prätenziös and pathetic is the sigh, but still seems serious." The term has long been the equivalent label of 'world music', where everything as 'exotic' applies outside the western cultural area. "But Nadifa Mohamed was born in 1981 in Somalia Hargeisa and fled as a child with her family to the UK, not outraged

They also do not handled with the theses of intellectual intimidation icon Edward Said and the Hybriditäts Reflections of the theorist Homi Bhabha, whose mention but does so well in any halfway scholarly conversation about "post-colonial writing". 

This corresponded to the stories with a comfortable smile talking tapping the young woman and bring her in so far two novels with connoisseurship to atmospheric density, actually exactly like the local notion of the atavistic fear chaos beyond the EU regulation cocoons. 

Kitsch nearby including: "Three women whose destiny is irrevocably linked, could be girlfriends and at the end of a precarious alliance of survival close" - the German blurb Nadifa Mohammed describes novel "The Garden of Lost Souls" (CH Beck).

In reality, however, this book - the second of the author , who studied at Oxford History and Politics - a stunning and at the same time credible in every detail, even hyper-precise refutation of our west-even hate generic Köhler belief that only existential need people to true solidarity forcing. In the novel, the opposite is the case. And what experience its three protagonists, is a Dantesque hell out of heat, bustle, excrement, forced prostitution and betrayal.

The author sees from her window chair curiously into the gray Berlin skies and then says quietly, almost casually: "For that is another thing - the myth of the 'strong African woman' women from firewood pre-work to protect their children. worry about everything from marauding gangs, but are not 'strong', but be abused. And the permanent disaster around them it does not allow for even a second that they concede to the human right to weakness. "

Nadifa Mohamed and her family did not come as well as their fictional characters as Mogadishu, but from Hargeisa - since 1992 the capital of independent, though internationally unrecognized Somaliland de jure. And while prevail murder and manslaughter in the hull state of Somalia to the present day, it goes into the stable northern entity to peaceful - which, not least, benefited the author when she interviewed live for her novel there women and their concrete memories to base a gripping fiction made. Nadifa Mohamed formulated a precise analysis of their country. Thus, it is also present on the opinion pages of British newspapers, without having to be too good for such supposedly "Remote literature". She sends half coquettish smile in the room. "The chattering and eternal politicking is already more of a male domain in Somalia, during busy doing all the work on the women." If you believe the hymns of the British literary criticism, it has already proved with her debut novel its assertion Somalis were the most interesting CVs in the world.

Your upper body is prevented. "How wonderful," she says now, "that now so many immigrants or their children have become writers! Nothing would be sadder than when still only half a dozen novelists would have parts of the world re-pre-sen-tee-tion, in which millions and millions of people fully heterogeneous fates live. "

Nadifa Mohamed told by her father, the model of "Black Mamba Boy": The now 89-year-olds had once then slyly to the Italian colonial troops and as a sailor to Aden, before he happened upon the British "Runnymede Park" hired in 1947 who had to bring a notorious prison ship the desperate Jewish passengers of the "exodus" back to Europe, to the port of Hamburg.

"At that time," says Nadifa Mohamed, "saw my father for the first time in his life white people who really suffered. And he understood the decisive beyond traditional notions of race or clan affiliation."Universalism without Tremolo: The young Nadifa Mohamed is now one of its most exciting storytellers.

Nadifa Mohamed: The garden of the lost soul CH Beck, Munich, 269 pp., 19,95 €

This article originally was written in German language 

Source: welt.de

Swiss involvement in the struggle for a world free of landmines, weapons munitions and other explosive remnants of war

On the occasion of the International Day of awareness of the problem of mines and assistance in Mine Action on 4 April Confederation presented the results of efforts in 2013 as part of the implementation of its strategy in humanitarian demining.

Bern, 04.04.2014 - The number of new victims injured by landmines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war continues to decline. It is important to continue to support those affected. 

On the occasion of the International Day of awareness of the problem of mines and assistance in Mine Action on 4 April Confederation presented the results of efforts in 2013 as part of the implementation of its strategy in humanitarian demining.

Although the number of new wounded by landmines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war continues to decline, it is essential to provide appropriate medical assistance to survivors and to support the population, as to support victims for the economic development of the region. Land infested with mines can not be used, often for years. Therefore péjore drastically the lives of the inhabitants. Switzerland invests to fight against this scourge.

In Mine Action Strategy of the Swiss Confederation 2012 - 2015, our country's goal is to contribute in a concrete way and internationally to make the world free of landmines, weapons munitions and other explosive remnants of war. Significant progress has been made in 2013 in achieving these goals.

On the political level, Switzerland has obtained a commitment from the secretariat of the Convention on Cluster Munitions is based in Geneva. It is thus reinforce the importance of Geneva as an international place and especially the International Centre for Humanitarian Demining - (GICHD) as a center of expertise. Meanwhile, Switzerland is also committed

internationally to consolidate various international treaties to ensure that commitments for Humanitarian Demining and the fight against possible violations of conventions continue.

At the operational level, efforts have focused on supporting concrete projects for the benefit of priority countries for humanitarian aid, development cooperation and peacebuilding. Civilian and military experts and have been again be directly involved, particularly to support the administration and logistics of disposal projects or to provide technical assistance.

The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) are responsible for policy and operational aspects of the contribution of Switzerland. These two departments work closely with other governments, international organizations such as the UN, the ICRC, and civil society.

In 2013, the Swiss Army hired professional military personnel of the Competence Centre demining and disposal of unexploded ordnance in the army (Cen-DEMUNEX comp NBC) and military militia in programs established to favor of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia / Somaliland, South Sudan, Western Sahara and the UN headquarters in New York.

The contribution of military militia is very popular, because they have skills combining knowledge base military, military driving experience and technical knowledge in civil cases. The organization of national building and training of local staff to work disposal have been the primary targets of these commitments. At the same time, management structures and conduct have been implemented.

In addition to efforts at the political level, including the DFA supports projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, 
Cambodia, Kosovo, Laos, Lebanon, Mali, Burma (Myanmar), the Philippines, Somalia / Somaliland, Sri Lanka, South Sudan and Syria.

The commitment of Switzerland have been slightly increased compared to previous years. The total value of funds available and operational contributions exceed seventeen million Swiss francs. The International Centre for Humanitarian Demining - Geneva received almost half of these resources.

Address for inquiries:

VBS / Swiss Army
Christoph Brunner
Head of the Defence Information
031 325 18 39 DFA DFA Information 031 322 31 53

Author:

Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport

Internet: http://www.vbs.admin.ch

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

Internet: http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/fr/home/recent/media.html

Defence area

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Berlin gives go-ahead for military instructors for Somalia

Parliamentarians in Berlin have given approval for the dispatch of military instructors to Somalia on a training mission mandated by the European Union. Opposition deputies voted against the deployment.

Germany's armed forces, the Bundeswehr, have been training Somali soldiers since 2010, but up until now the training has taken place not in Somalia, but in Uganda (picture). In this latest move, parliament has given its consent to a change in policy, approving the deployment to Somalia of a maximum of 20 German troops.

This German contingent will be training Somali army specialists and military instructors as well as giving the Somali army advice on organizational matters in the Somali capital Mogadishu. So far some 3600 Somali army personnel have taken part in this training – in which nine EU states are participating – since its inception in 2010.

When the EU transferred its mission from Uganda to Mogadishu at the beginning of 2014, the Bundeswehr chose not to make the move because the German defense ministry considered the security situation too volatile.

Christian Democrat foreign policy spokesman Philipp Mißfelder believes the level of risk facing German instructors in Somalia is now acceptable

In the meantime, the German government now believes that the German instructors' working environment – a high security compound on the outskirts of Mogadishu airport – will be safe enough for them. "It is a responsibility that we are prepared to shoulder," Philipp Mißfelder, the ruling Christian Democrats' foreign policy spokesman, told parliament in Thursday's debate (03.04.2014) on the deployment to Somalia.

Deadly attacks, blamed on the Islamist al-Shabab militia, are a frequent occurrence in Somalia. The targets are often soldiers belonging to the African Union peacekeeping mission AMISOM.

EU backing for Somalia in the run-up to 2016 elections

Somalia needs the support of the international community. The European Union wants to help stabilize the country and assist in the creation of a state infrastructure before elections are held in Somalia in 2016. The parliamentary mandate for the German troops expires on March 31, 2015.

German Left Party deputy Sevim Dagdelen is deeply critical of the Somali government in Mogadishu

The German opposition parties – the Left Party and the Greens – did not back the deployment motion in parliament. They described the EU training mission in Somalia as a failure. A large proportion of the soldiers who had been trained had subsequently deserted to the militia, taking their equipment with them. "The so-called government in Somalia which you are supporting with your military training has been accused of heinous violations of human rights," Left Party deputy Sevim Dagdelen told the government benches in the parliamentary debate.

The opposition also condemned US drone attacks in Somalia, in which US military bases here in Germany were involved. "The German government should not turn a blind eye to this violation of international law," said Greens deputy Agnieszka Brugger.

A total of 118 German deputies voted against the deployment of German troops in Somalia.

Source: DW.DE

US, UK team up, prepare Burundi soldiers for civil affairs in Somalia

Burundi National Defense Force soldiers take a civil-military co-operation course (CIMIC) test during a 10-day course in Bujumbura, Burundi, March 20, 2014. Members of the U.S. Army and British army instructed the CIMIC course for 35 BNDF soldiers. The soldiers are preparing for a deployment to Somalia, in support of the African Union Mission in Somalia, a regional peacekeeping mission. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Gross)

by Staff Sgt. Christopher Gross

BUJUMBURA, Burundi – Members of the U.S. Army and British army instructed a 10-day civil-military co-operation course (CIMIC) for 35 Burundi National Defense Force (BNDF) soldiers in Bujumbura, Burundi, March 12-21, 2014.

As another battalion of BNDF soldiers prepares to deploy to Somalia, the course taught them how to engage effectively with people in the villages they’ll be patrolling. The deployment is in support of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), a regional peacekeeping mission operated by the African Union with the approval of the United Nations.

The senior representative for the British army was Maj. Mark Thompson, he is also part of the British Peace Support Team for Eastern Africa. Thompson has trained six battalions during the past two years and said he believes the training has had a major impact on operations in Somalia.

“By working with the Burundians and showing them what they can do with limited funds, it helps them build rapport,” Thompson said. “(It shows them how to) work with the civilian population and understand counter insurgency and peace-keeping fundamentals.”

Thompson said what the BNDF were taught went beyond the normal boundaries of CIMIC. “It’s a bigger package,” he said. “It’s understanding the political sphere, negotiation, mediation and a lot of encompassing things.”

It encompassed counter improvised explosive devices, how to conduct effective nighttime operations, and how to operate in rural areas alongside the civilian population.

According to U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Lucas Velmer, a civil affairs team sergeant, those tools are vital in the fight against violent extremist organizations (VEO). He said it’s very important for BNDF soldiers to gain the support of Somali citizens and have them back their government in an effort to defeat al-Shabaab.

Velmer said instructors keyed off other pre-deployment training the BNDF soldiers had received and took it from a macro level to a micro level. They reinforced “bottom-up operations and reporting feeds.” Expressing the importance of minor details the soldiers should clue in on during their patrols to make an analysis of the bigger picture.

Part of making that analysis is having an understanding of the Somali culture, Thompson said. It’s important to know their culture to open up doors and make their mission effective.

Thompson said he was pleased with how far the soldiers had come in grasping the importance of effective civil affair operations. Toward the end of the course, the soldiers took a written test followed by a practical exercise.

During the exercise BNDF soldiers went through several scenarios where they put new tools to use.

U.S. Army Maj. Jeremy Mitchell, left, reviews notes with a Burundi National Defense Force soldier and his interpreter following a practical exercise during a 10-day civil-military co-operation course (CIMIC) course in Bujumbura, Burundi, March 20, 2014. Members of the U.S. Army and British army instructed the CIMIC course for 35 BNDF soldiers. The soldiers are preparing for a deployment to Somalia, in support of the African Union Mission in Somalia, a regional peacekeeping mission. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Gross)

They had to assess a health clinic and negotiate for information, they did a key leader engagement with a village elder, followed by a battle assessment on a truck, and they had to engage the media.

“We’re trying to put all the skills that they’ve learned over the last two weeks into a test scenario with hands-on practical application,” Velmer said.

Aside from the satisfaction of watching the soldiers succeed during the course, Velmer said it was also a great opportunity to work with coalition partners and felt the soldiers benefited from it.
“They get two different perspectives which are how the U.K. conducts stabilization operations and how the U.S. conducts civil affairs operations,” Velmer said. “All of it (falls) under civil military … the overall concept still remains the same.”

“We found it was a good opportunity to get involved with both, the Burundi National Defense Force and the United Kingdom. To further enhance what we were trying to do as far as building partner nations in a capacity to defeat violent extremist organizations in the future,” Velmer said.

Thompson said the key behind the joint course was to create consistency and familiarity in the way the course is instructed. The way forward will be for the U.S. and U.K. to alternate training BNDF battalions, preparing them for deployments to Somalia.

Source: hoa.africom.mil

Egypt: FM - Egypt Offers to Finance Ethiopia's Renaissance Dam

During his speech before the Royal Institute for International Relations, Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said that Egypt offered to finance the construction of the Ethiopian Renaissance dam and suggested that the dam would be run by a joint committee from the two countries.

He also emphasized the importance of serious negotiations to find out solutions that serve the interests of the Nile Basin countries without harming any country.

He also asserted that Egypt would resort to all legal measures to protect its historical rights in Nile water and national security.

Source:  

Egypt

Cabinet Approves Tough 'Terrorism' Law 

Egypt's cabinet approved the "anti-terrorism" law during its meeting on Thursday, said a government statement. see more »

US Unmanned Drone lost power, crashed into Mediterranean

An MQ-1 Predator similar to this one crashed in September when a power converter in the aircraft's control module failed, according to an abbreviated mishap report released Wednesday. (Photo: (1st Lt. Shannon Collins / Air Force)

An MQ-1B Predator flying a 20-hour mission in Africa crashed into the Mediterranean Sea on Sept. 17, the Air Force announced today.

A failed power converter led to the crash, which destroyed the unarmed drone and its communication pod valued at $5.3 million, according to an Air Combat Command abbreviated accident investigation board report released Wednesday.

The aircraft was deployed from the 432nd Wing at Creech Air Force Base, Nev.

The Air Force did not release the base from which the drone was flying. The Air Force has flown unmanned reconnaissance missions from countries such as Niger, Ethiopia, Djibouti and the Seychelles. The service also did not specify where in the Mediterranean the mishap occurred.

According to the report, the Predator's crew members noticed a loss in communication with the aircraft just before they handed control over to the Launch and Recovery Element, which is tasked with landing the aircraft. The crew went through their checklists and told the ground control station that they could not establish contact with the aircraft, according to an Air Combat Command release.

The ground control station logged electrical, flight control and engine warning indications, which the investigation board president found were a direct result of a power converter malfunction in the aircraft's control module.

The loss of control caused the aircraft to spiral and crash into the sea, the report states.

COULD TAIWAN BE THE NEXT CRIMEA?

Crimea on the Strait?

By Joshua Keating

Student protesters occupy the legislature the day after clashing with riot police at the Executive Yuan on March 24, 2014 in Taipei, Taiwan.

Photo by Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images

The student protesters occupying Taiwan's parliament have agreed to meet with President Ma Ying-jeou, just days after they were forcibly evicted by riot police from the executive building in Taipei. They are protesting a proposed trade deal with China, which would open up a number of sectors of the Taiwanese economy to mainland investment. The protesters believe this would threaten the island’s political independence by allowing Chinese influence in previously off-limits sectors like publishing and advertising.

Businessweek Hong Kong editor Bruce Einhorn notes some discomfiting parallels between the current situation and another recent crisis:

The turmoil takes place in a small country that has spent years living uncomfortably in the shadow of a major power—one with ambitions to recover territory lost during a humiliating period of weakness. The small country has a weak economy, and the government decides to push through a controversial deal to tie the small country’s prospects closer to its powerful neighbor. That move sparks outrage against the unpopular president, who has already faced criticism after the jailing of a popular opposition leader on corruption charges. The protests grow, turning violent as the embattled president orders security forces to break up the demonstrations.

Some commentators, such as the Diplomat’s James Holmes, have suggested that the parallels between the two situations are the reason why Beijing has remained noncommittal in its response to the situation in Crimea. “Russia’s intervention in Ukraine could well reinforce the precedent that big powers may manage their environs by force,” he writes. “That would provide political top cover for China should it opt to use force against Taiwan at some future time.”

JOSHUA KEATING

Joshua Keating is a staff writer at Slate focusing on international affairs and writes the World blog. Follow him onTwitter.

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The Global Times, giving voice to China’s nationalist id as it tends to do,editorializes: “Some people in Taiwan hold the misconception that Taiwan is an independent unit. Political short-sightedness has become an obstacle to the region's economic development. … If Taiwan students are fearful of change, they will only resort to what students in Egypt and Thailand have done, in which case Taiwan's future will be unclear.”

As is always the case, it’s worth noting the differences between the situations as well as the similarities. Taiwan has a much stronger economy and much more robust democracy than Ukraine, and Ma—whatever his faults—is no Viktor Yanukovych. As dramatic as the images of riot police clashing with students in Taipei this week were, they’re not actually hugely out of character for Taiwan’s freewheeling political culture, where protests are an almost daily occurrence.

(Interestingly, Ukraine and Taiwan do share a tradition of parliamentary brawling. A Kuomintang parliamentarian once introduced a bill on transport links with the mainland on the floor of the legislature only to have it ripped out of her hands and stuffed in her mouth by an opponent.)

But Taiwan does appear to be in a kind of geopolitical limbo that may not be sustainable in the long run. After decades of high tension, relations between Taiwan and the mainland have improved markedly under the more conciliatory Ma, who came to power in 2008 promising closer ties to Beijing. (As I noted during my China trip, this has coincided with some interesting historical revisionism on the mainland surrounding Taiwan’s founding father Chiang Kai-shek.) Beijing still pledges to use force to prevent Taiwan from declaring full independence but has backed off the more strident nationalist rhetoric.

But as much as Taiwan and China have enjoyed better relations, public opinion on the island has remained steadfastly against unification. In a 2011 poll, only 1.4 percent favored swift unification, 23 percent wanted full independence, and 60 percent wanted to maintain the status quo indefinitely. The proportion of people describing themselves as Taiwanese rather than Chinese has grown in the years that trade between the two sides has increased.

For now, this week’s drama aside, both sides seem to be benefiting from the current status quo—deepening economic ties while Taiwan retains its political independence. But that’s not to say that future leaders might not push for either full independence or unification. If that happens, as we’ve seen in Ukraine, things can play out in unexpected ways very quickly. 

The self-determination of peoples

Therefore, one can understand the skepticism about the self-determination. But the Scots, Catalans, Basques and Kosovars should not suffer from this skepticism. And not even the Republic of Somaliland , the Peaceful part of Somalia.

by Jorge Arprin

Much is the self-determination of peoples talk lately. Alan Posener criticized recently the desire for national self-determination. His arguments are as follows: That right there is not even the desire for national self-determination has in the 20th Century only led to disaster, and it is better if there is no Kurdistan and Tibet, as the Middle East destabilized and no more VWs sold in China. Ralf Dahrendorf criticized as early as 1989 in TIME self-determination of peoples. In his view, only individuals have rights, not collective.

There is no right of Armenians to live among Armenians. But there is a right for Armenian citizens of their community, the same to be among equals, to be discriminated against, and even to maintain their own language and culture. These are civil rights, rights of individuals against any supremacy.

For Dahrendorf's right. There is no collective rights, only individuals have rights.No tribe, no nation, no ethnic group can invoke a right.

Nevertheless, the self-determination of peoples is thus not necessarily off the table. Under this concept is understood today, mainly the right to secession of a province or region. The question of which state you want to belong to, is also an individual. An Armenian has no right to live among Armenians. But he has a right to propagate an Armenian state. And if enough people are willing to support an Armenian state, no one has the right to prevent the establishment of an Armenian state by force.

It does for the authorization of secession not matter if the inhabitants of a city or county they are now justified by ethnic differences or not. The best example is the secession of the USA (from Poznań addressed in his article) that had nothing to do with ethnic conflicts. Although the assertion that the desire has led for national self-determination to disasters may be true, but many disasters also by the fact that the desire for national self-determination of states has been violently suppressed emerged. The Middle East is destabilized not only by Kurdish terrorist organizations, but also by authoritarian governments that forcibly suppress any peaceful attempt to establish a Kurdish state.

If one accepts the right of secession, inevitably raises the question of where to draw the line. A limitation, however, can not objectively define. If Monaco or the Vatican may be independent, any other region should have the right to do so.Ludwig von Mises advocated a right to secession for "the residents of an area, whether it be a single village, a tract of land or a number of contiguous tracts of land."

Of course a new state must also pay all of the individual rights of its citizens. Each state will be measured. When the secession should only serve to hurt better the rights of citizens, resistance to it is legitimate. That is why you can, as a liberal the secession of the Southern states historically not approve (especially as it were indeed the southern states, which set the civil war with the bombardment of Fort Sumter in gear). Unfortunately, most secessions are not exactly peaceful manner and also did not lead to liberal states. Therefore, one can understand the skepticism about the self-determination. But the Scots, Catalans, Basques and Kosovars should not suffer from this skepticism. And not even the Republic of Somaliland , the Peaceful part of Somalia.

Djibouti and Somaliland will strengthen cross-border cooperation

Djibouti and Somaliland will further strengthen their ties of cross-border cooperation, does on Thursday from official sources.

An agreement to this effect was signed on Wednesday between the Djiboutian Minister of the Interior, Hassan Omar Mohamed, and Somaliland Interior Minister, Ali Mohamed Waran Adee, a visit to Djibouti.

This agreement mainly involves the creation of a Djibouti-Somaliland border joint committee in charge of monitoring and enforcement of ministerial decisions, strengthening security cooperation in the fight against terrorism, the establishment of a device preventive and deterrent against the networks of smugglers of all kinds, and improving the movement of goods and people on both sides of the border between the two countries.

In a brief statement he made to the press after the signing of this agreement, the Somaliland Interior Minister said the importance of the agreement on cooperation against smuggling and especially terrorism .

Former British territory located in the northwest of Somalia, Somaliland, a self-proclaimed independent state in 1991, was not recognized by either ratifying indefinitely its African neighbors, nor by the international community. But remains an island of peace in a country ravaged by more than two decades of civil war.

For Scotland, membership of the EU matters

Anti-Europeans would have us all believe that the European Union is the source of all our ills and that more and more people in the UK simply want us to leave. But scratch below the surface and you find that attitudes towards the EU are in fact quite subtle, and that when the debate focuses on specific policy issues the EU is in fact very important to the vast majority of people, who are keen to stay in.

By David Clarke, member of the European Movement in Scotland committee

Take Scotland for example. Its 6 million voters are being asked next year whether to go it alone as an independent nation or to remain part of the UK. An important questions no doubt – one that involves ending a union that’s lasted 300 years and seen us from the enlightenment through to the age of iPhones and Google.

The consequences of independence on EU membership

But key among questions being asked by people on the street and by politicians is what this will mean for our relationship with the EU. Will Scotland automatically become another member of the club, or will we have to apply for membership while the remaining part of the UK stays in?
There are plenty of opinions as to what will happen (the Spanish Prime Minister this week, looking over his shoulder at Catalan nationalism, said he expected Scotland would have to reapply from the outside), but the message from this is clear – Scotland's people value their membership of the EU very highly and one thing they don’t want is to find they’ve inadvertently left the world’s most successful multinational bloc.

EU issues fuel strategic voting

Interestingly, many Scottish Tories are using the prospect of leaving the EU as a stick with which to beat the SNP, even though many of their colleagues, especially those down south, are want to mull that the UK might be better off detaching itself from our near neighbours and key trading partners. There’s even some evidence that Scots might be more likely to vote FOR independence as the best guarantee of staying in the EU should it look like English voters will drag us all to the exit.
So what does this show us? EU membership, when it’s on the line, is actually quite important to the Scots. But what about the English? Well again, it’s all about how you frame the debate and the questions that you ask. If you keep barracking people about immigrants taking their jobs and benefits and that this is all a nefarious EU plot, then you might find a certain antipathy to the EU.

How you frame the debate...

If however you ask whether they really want to end the right to freely travel, work and retire throughout the continent, do they want to lose the millions of jobs that are connected with being part of the Single Market, and all the other small and big benefits connected with our membership of the EU, then you will probably see a different answer. The vast majority of the English also value the benefits of EU membership and they won't like to see them taken away.
As the debate in Scotland is showing, the imminent prospect of losing something, rather than just talking about it in the abstract, can focus the mind.