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Somaliland Public Diplomacy Forum (SPDF).
Araweelo News Network.
What’s the public Diplomacy?
Public diplomacy is the state’s strategy to communicate directly to the foreign public. It can take the form of press conference and policymakers statements. But it’s a professional field itself in which are dedicated governmental organization that launch campaigns and develop efforts to provide international media with an image of country’s policy and target certain audiences.
THE PUBLIC DIPLOMACY CONSISTS OF TWO BRANCHES AND THEY ARE CALLED ( BRANDING & ADVOCACY ).
- BRANDING
Branding has to do with the strategies and actions put in a place by a country to promote a positive image of it. It consist of packaging country’s identity, highlighting certain elements of it’s history, it’s cultural production, and it’s foreign policy. In order to make it attractive and associate it with positive values.
For instance, the Indian council for cultural Relations promotes an image of India as an emerging economy state and stresses the country’s advancements in the field of high technologies.
Similarly, Canada’s public diplomacy efforts present the country as a multicultural and creative, and highlight it’s natural resources.
This approach to public Diplomacy can also be reactive, and thus it can attempt to counter the negative image of the international media can portray of a country. It’s intended to dismantle stereotypes and rectify wrong informations.
- ADVOCACY
Advocacy refers to the strategies put in a place to achieve in a specific objectives.
Diplomats can put an issue on the Political agenda and can encourage the government to take measures. In a contest which the media often take an international issues in a Manichean manner. It has became a crucial to provide a narrative explaining by the position by a country.
Therefore Somaliland need to establish a Government backed independent institutions that promotes the public Diplomacy services and we do belie that public Diplomacy institution can highly persuade the the republic Somaliland’s image In front of the international community and it can help to push the republic of Somaliland to gain it’s long awaited diplomatic independence and the lasting international recognition of the republic of Somaliland.
In the institution of Somaliland’s public Diplomacy will diplomatically convince Somalia to recognize the republic of Somaliland because the reason in which the dream of unity of the greater Somalia was not only to the unification of both British protectorate Somaliland and the Italian Somaliland regions. rather the aim of greater Somalia was the unification of the five Somali regions whom were colonized by the different European colonial powers. They are western Somali region ( Ogaden) , NDF somali region occupied by Kenya, Italian Somaliland, British protectorate of somaliland and Djibouti.
So, in accordance of Somaliland and somalia debate , both parties must be bring a wise diplomatic debates on the table and the Somaliland public Diplomacy institution will work very hard to convince to Somalia to bring back al other missed Somali regions whom were part the of greater Somalia dream. The international community must be part of this this diplomatic debate between in which somalia and somalialnd will face each other. The international community must be there to realize who is wrong and who is on right path. If those other regions of somalis are remained missed then the dream of greater somalia has completely failed and the republic of Somalialnd will have right to be an independent republic from the rest if Somalia. The 3 missed regions from the old greater Somalia dreams are as follows (OGADEN, NFD, & DJIBOUTI ). Somalia must restore back all of them, then the republic of Somaliland will part of that greater somalia unity. If it can’t do this, then the republic of Somaliland has the right to be a full independent country. Somalia must recognize the self determinations of the citizens of the republic of Somaliland.
The somaliland public Diplomacy institution will work very hard to convince and acknowledge the international community about the historic facts related on how the Biritish protectorate of Somaliland and the Italian Somaliland had earlier built their unification and that both region’s ultimate aim were the restoration of whole 5 somali regions whom remained under the three European colonial powers (I.e the British, french and the Italians ). This dream was known as the ” greater Somalia “. So if Somalia can’t restore whole 5 somali regions under one greater Somalia Government then it must recognize the republic of Somaliland as an independent state because the case of the Biritish protectorate of somaliland is similar to that case of other three Somali regions whom are not currently part of Somalia (I.e Ogaden, NFD & DJIBOUTI ).
Therefore it’s unwise for Somalia to undermine the self determinations of the republic of Somaliland’s populations whom voted to form their independent republic in 1991 which is almost 32 years ago. Somalia’s claim related about the republic of Somaliland’s being part of Somalia is a meaningless claims because the republic of Somaliland never been part of Somalia in the past three decades.
Dr.Ahmed Hasan Saalah
