Berbera has created a trust dividend between the United Arab Emirates and Somaliland. It connects Gulf commerce to East African markets and proves cooperation can precede diplomacy. Abu Dhabi should now convert that work into recognition.
Israel recognised Somaliland in December 2025. The UAE can become the first Arab country to recognise Somaliland, widening an open door without surrendering other relationships.
The President should direct the UAE foreign ministry to begin a legal and strategic recognition review with Somaliland's foreign ministry. The partnership works. Policy should catch up with reality.
Berbera Proves Strategic Trust
DP World committed up to 442 million dollars to expand Berbera Port. It then opened the Berbera Economic Zone and established a shipping route to Jebel Ali. The port, zone and corridor form one commercial system serving Somaliland, Ethiopia and the Gulf.
This is completed work, not a promise. The UAE found a ready partner that had built peace, institutions and government, then supplied the capital and logistics that turned location into leverage. Recognition would protect that investment by replacing ambiguity with a durable state relationship and greater investor confidence.
Workable Unions Build Affinity
Both countries built workable unions. Seven emirates formed a constitutional federation. Somaliland formed a political compact among communities whose elders created their protected territory through treaties signed in the nineteenth century. Both nevertheless reached for larger unions. Emirati founders pursued a federation of nine with Qatar and Bahrain, then accepted the workable seven. Somaliland's larger attempt followed a harsher path.
Law Supports Emirati Recognition
The British independence instrument made Somaliland independent on 26 June 1960. On 1 July, Somaliland went into a de facto union with the State of Somalia, which had formerly been administered by Italy. The African Union's 2005 fact finding mission found that the attempted union between two sovereign countries was never ratified, called Somaliland's recognition case unique and rejected a secessionist precedent. Somaliland's restored sovereignty is state continuity rather than secession.
The AU's Constitutive Act binds members rather than the UAE. Under Article 34 of the Vienna Convention, treaties create no obligations for third states without consent. Recognition is each sovereign country's choice. Countries may recognise Somaliland or decline. That does not compel Abu Dhabi. The AU admitted Morocco in 2017 while retaining the Sahrawi Republic, accommodating opposing recognition positions on Western Sahara. The strongest objection may be another condemnation flood after Israel's recognition. Abu Dhabi has one answer. Where was that energy when Iran attacked the UAE? Somaliland condemned the attacks before the GCC and EU meeting and Arab League session. Proven loyalty matters more.
Recognition Builds Arab Bridges
Recognition would make the UAE the bridge linking the Arab world, Somaliland and Ethiopia. Berbera already connects their economies. Formal ties would connect their politics, giving Hargeisa and Addis Ababa a dependable Arab partner. Today's critics may object. Tomorrow they may appreciate that Abu Dhabi created the channel through which Hargeisa keeps an ear open to legitimate Arab interests.
Washington is a reason to act, not wait. The White House describes a decades-long strategic partnership with the UAE across defence, trade, energy and diplomacy. Abu Dhabi should encourage President Trump to recognise Somaliland. Washington should follow its trusted partner's lead. Emirati recognition would frame a US decision as coordinated Red Sea strategy and advance a realistic Arab policy.