means no classrooms for children, no health facilities to ward off avoidable illness and pregnancy related deaths, no street lighting and no technical assistance to de-mine feeder roads. [ 38 ] Abdi, an International Crisis Group analyst is passionate that ''there is no way Somaliland will rejoin Somalia, not in my lifetime.'' He adds that ''they are dead-set on independence. If we don't reward Somaliland with some form of recognition, they risk sliding back. I think they are the most democratic administration in the Horn of Africa.'' [ 39 ] Seth Kaplan affirms that Somaliland can make a strong case for recognition on a wide variety if grounds: legal, historical, political and practical. Its legal and historical case rests on its separate status during the colonial period and its existence, albeit brief, as an independent country in 1960. Except for a short period during World War II, Somaliland was a British territory for over seven decades, unconnected to the rest of what became Somalia. It had clearly demarcated borders that were recognised by the international community -- and that could easily be used today. During the five days in 1960 that Somaliland existed as an independent country, it gained the recognition of thirty-five states and indeed signed a number of bilateral agreements with the United Kingdom, and received a congratulatory message from the U.S. Secretary of State. The Somaliland authorities argue today that they are dissolving an unsuccessful marriage rather than seeking secession, and that their case is therefore analogous