There are growing calls among prominent conservative foreign policy analysts in Washington, D.C. for the United States to extend formal diplomatic recognition to the self-declared state of Somaliland as a way to confront “the growing threat from China and uncertainty over Djibouti’s future.”

There’s a sense that Djibouti’s close ties with Beijing make it a less than ideal location for a major American military installation and that Somaliland presents an opportunity to build a new outpost that will be free of any Chinese incursion. 

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