The Economist considered Somaliland 'the country of the year

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

The Economist’s country of the year

Earth’s got talent

 

Resilient Ireland, booming South Sudan, tumultuous Turkey: our country of the year is…

Dec 21st 2013 | From the print edition

 

 

HUMAN life isn’t all bad, but it sometimes feels that way. Good news is no news: the headlines mostly tell of strife and bail-outs, failure and folly.

 

Yet, like every year, 2013 has witnessed glory as well as calamity. When the time comes for year-end accountings, both the accomplishments and the cock-ups tend to be judged the offspring of lone egomaniacs or saints, rather than the joint efforts that characterise most human endeavour. To redress the balance from the individual to the collective, and from gloom to cheer, The Economist has decided, for the first time, to nominate a country of the year.

 

 

But how to choose it? Readers might expect our materialistic outlook to point us to simple measures of economic performance, but they can be misleading. Focusing on GDP growth would lead us to opt for South Sudan, which will probably notch up a stonking 30% increase in 2013—more the consequence of a 55% drop the previous year, caused by the closure of its only oil pipeline as a result of its divorce from Sudan, than a reason for optimism about a troubled land. Or we might choose a nation that has endured economic trials and lived to tell the tale. Ireland has come through its bail-out and cuts with exemplary fortitude and calm; Estonia has the lowest level of debt in the European Union. But we worry that this econometric method would confirm the worst caricatures of us as flint-hearted number-crunchers; and not every triumph shows up in a country’s balance of payments.

 

Another problem is whether to evaluate governments or their people. In some cases their merits are inversely proportional: consider Ukraine, with its thuggish president, Viktor Yanukovych, and its plucky citizens, freezing for democracy in the streets of Kiev, even though nine years ago they went to the trouble of having a revolution to keep the same man out of office. Or remember Turkey, where tens of thousands protested against the creeping autocracy and Islamism of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister-cum-sultan. Alas, neither movement has yet been all that successful.

 

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Definitional questions creep in, too. One possible candidate, Somaliland, has kept both piracy and Islamic extremism at bay, yet on most reckonings it is not a country at all, rather a renegade province of Somalia—which has struggled to contain either. As well as countries yet to be, we might celebrate one that could soon disintegrate: the United Kingdom, which hasn’t fared too badly, all things considered, since coming into being in 1707, but could fracture in 2014 should the Scots be foolhardy enough to vote for secession.

 

And the winner is

When other publications conduct this sort of exercise, but for individuals, they generally reward impact rather than virtue. Thus they end up nominating the likes of Vladimir Putin, Ayatollah Khomeini or, in 1938, Adolf Hitler. Adapting that realpolitikal rationale, we might choose Bashar Assad’s Syria, from which millions of benighted refugees have now been scattered to freezing camps across the Levant. If we were swayed by influence per head of population, we might plump for the Senkaku (or Diaoyu) islands, the clutch of barren rocks in the East China Sea that have periodically threatened to incite a third world war—though that might imply their independence, leading both China and Japan to invade us. Alternatively, applying the Hippocratic principle to statecraft, we might suggest a country from which no reports of harm or excitement have emanated. Kiribati seems to have had a quiet year.

 

But the accomplishments that most deserve commendation, we think, are path-breaking reforms that do not merely improve a single nation but, if emulated, might benefit the world. Gay marriage is one such border-crossing policy, which has increased the global sum of human happiness at no financial cost. Several countries have implemented it in 2013—including Uruguay, which also, uniquely, passed a law to legalise and regulate the production, sale and consumption of cannabis. This is a change so obviously sensible, squeezing out the crooks and allowing the authorities to concentrate on graver crimes, that no other country has made it. If others followed suit, and other narcotics were included, the damage such drugs wreak on the world would be drastically reduced.

 

Better yet, the man at the top, President José Mujica, is admirably self-effacing. With unusual frankness for a politician, he referred to the new law as an experiment. He lives in a humble cottage, drives himself to work in a Volkswagen Beetle and flies economy class. Modest yet bold, liberal and fun-loving, Uruguay is our country of the year. ¡Felicitaciones!

[Gar_maqaate]

"Somaliland, has kept both piracy and Islamic extremism at bay"

And yet there is a farmer Somaliland Minster on trial in the USA for Piracy and the head of al shaabab is a Somalilander. The statement I just made is factual correct but it is not a fair assessment of Somaliland and it still tells you more about Somaliland then the article above. It is also more than the Economist Journalists know about Somaliland.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Gar_maqaate;992029 wrote:

"Somaliland, has kept both piracy and Islamic extremism at bay"

And yet there is a farmer Somaliland Minster is on trial in the USA for Piracy and the head of al shaabab is a Somalilander. The statement I just made is factual correct but it is not a fair assessment of Somaliland and it still tells more about Somaliland then the article above. It is also more than the Economist Journalists know about Somaliland.

 

Who is this former Somaliland Minister whats his name.

 

Whether Amiir Godane is a Somalilander or not is not relevant , what important is the fact that Somaliland kept Terrorism at bay and Piracy to this is a fact.

[Gar_maqaate]

His name Ali Mohamed Ali and he was actually arrested whilst he was the Somaliland's mister for education. He was lured to USA by inviting him to an education convention. How did you Somalilanders miss this news?

[Gar_maqaate]

He was found not guilty last month.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/26/somali-man-not-guilty-piracy

[Wiil Cusub]

Gar_maqaate;992042 wrote:

He was found not guilty last month.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/26/somali-man-not-guilty-piracy

He was found not guilty! and still you call him pirate.

 

He was not minster but siilanyo named shortly after the election win as general director of MoE.

and shortly after he dismiss due this allegation and even some time jailed by secret service in Hargeisa

 

 

[Gar_maqaate]

He was found not guilty! and still you call him pirate.

First of all i did not calling him a pirate, i said he was on trial for piracy.You ought read things before you comment!. Besides the jurors are still "deliberating on two remaining charges of hostage-taking and conspiracy to commit hostage-taking"

He was not minster but siilanyo named shortly after the election win as general director of MoE.

and shortly after he dismiss due this allegation and even some time jailed by secret service in Hargeisa

According to what i have read he was still the Education Minister when he was arrested, that is why "To lure him back to the US, the FBI created a fake charitable foundation, supposedly backed by four wealthy American donors who were seeking to invest in education in Somalia". If you have evidence contrary to this then i would like to see it.

[Mad_Mullah]

Good days, the fitnah of power and greed hasn't come to them yet.

[Wiil Cusub]

Gar-maqate here r evidence contrary what u said: First he wasn't minster and second he wasn't on duty

M/Weyne Siilaanyo Oo Xilkii Ka Qaaday Maareeyihii Laydhka Iyo Agaasimaha Guud ee Tacliinta Sare

April 14th, 2011 Comments Off

Hargeysa(Somaliland.Org)- Madaxweynaha Somaliland Md. Axmed Maxamed Maxamuud (Siilaanyo) ayaa maanta ka hor intii aanu dalka ka dhoofin wuxuu xilkii ka qaaday Agaasimihii guud ee wasaarada waxbarashada iyo Tacliinta sare Cali Maxamed Cali iyo Maareeyihii Ha’yada Korontada Xasan Cismaan Aadan.

source

 

In June, 2010, Ali was appointed Director General of the Ministry of Education in Somaliland, a self-declared autonomous region within Somalia. Ali’s defense attorney, Brian Brook, told The Daily Beast that Ali received the title because of his efforts to improve schools in the province, with the belief that education is the key to fighting piracy.

By the time Ali accepted the position, a warrant had already been issued for his arrest

, and another one authorizing police to search his email account.

source

[Wiil Cusub]

Here are more evidence that he arrested in Hargeisa before left to US

 

SL: Agaasimaha guud ee Wasaaradda Waxbarashada iyo Tacliinta sare oo la xidhay

Sabti, Maarso 12, 2011 (HOL) – Agaasimaha guud ee Wasaaradda Waxbarashada iyo Tacliinta sare ee Somaliland Cali Maxamed Cali ayaa la xidhay, ka dib markii ay Ciidamada Boolisku uga yeedheen xarunta dembi-baadhista, waxaanu Agaasimuhu xadhiggiisa ku eedeeyay Wasiirka arrimaha gudaha Dr. Maxamed Cabdi Gabboose.

source old SOL thread

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

So he was not even a Minister as Garmaqaate claimed

[Gar_maqaate]

OK. So he is a "Maareeyihii Laydhka Iyo Agaasimaha Guud ee Tacliinta Sare" and not the Education minister. i stand corrected

[YoniZ]

Any time a liberal fantasist writes passingly something about Somaliland our Xaaji jumps on wagon, starts a forum and, declares victory

[N.O.R.F]

As much as I think SL is doing well, I don't take The Economist seriously on many issues.

[RedSea]

Somaliland is doing ok, but not great. All this foreign sweet talk does is over inflate our ego and make us blind to the reality. Somaliland has long ways to go, so let's get focused(: