Becoming Somaliland:(African Issues)
Bradbury (development consultant) has written, with muted advocacy, an extended plea for the recognition of British Somaliland as a state, independent from embattled Somalia. Every aspect of this small enclave is explored. However, the text is rife with contradictions: while giving a detailed narrative of the positive development of the polityfollowing the independence declaration, it glosses over civil conflicts; while waxing positive on the economic foundation of Somaliland, it quickly notes its 73 percent poverty rate. Most conclusions, positive or negative, are followed by qualifiers, making it difficult to assess the material. Somaliland is described as a complex kinship-based society dominated by the Isaaq clan. With the democratic constitution and elections, the clan has the presidency and 57 of the 82 seats in the lower house, and clan-based elders fill the upper house of the legislature. The text needs a coherent organizational theme that does not allow the detail to overwhelm a general understanding of the society. Still, there is no other source on Somaliland that has this text's breadth of discussion. Many will find it difficult to read the eight-point font of the references, index, and footnotes. Best for those with an interest in the Horn of Africa. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. --Choice R. M. Fulton, Northwest Missouri State University, March 2009"[Bradbury] brings a different perspective than diplomats, journalists or academics, and demonstrates thorough knowledge of clan and sub-clan relations, alliances or conflicts, political actors, and the constitutional and electoral processes." —Cahiers d'Etudes Africianes, 2011, Volume 201"... comprehensive, providing both a history of the region and a fairly complete assessment of recent state-building efforts." —Nicolas van de Walle, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 88.3 May/June 2009"In offering this detailed account, Bradbury does not romaticise what has gone on or imply it is automatically sustainable.... But this under-reported story is one of undoubted achievement, one that deserves to be more generally proclaimed as it does indeed 'challenge the image of war, disaster and social regression that has been associated with this part of Africa since the early 1980s.'" —Lionel Cliffe, University of Leeds, Leeds African Studies Bulletin, #71 Oct. 2009/2010"... fill[s] an important gap in the literature on Somali studies." —Pambazuka News"[T]here is no other source on Somaliland that has this text's breadth of discussion.... Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above." —Choice, March 2009"The most detailed treatment of the self-proclaimed Somaliland state and its emergence from collapsed Somalia." —Peter D. Little, author of Somalia: Economy without State