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 Somalia |  United States |
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Somalia–United States relations (Somali:Xiriirka Maraykanka-Soomaaliya;Arabic:علاقات صومالية أمريكية) arebilateral relations between theFederal Republic of Somalia and theUnited States of America. Somalia has an embassy inWashington, D.C., and the United States maintains an embassy inMogadishu which was reopened in late 2019.
In 1897, the Geledi Sultanate sent a high-profile delegation to New York under their foreign minister Khalid Aden Mohammed and signed the Indian Ocean Naval Treaty to combat Zanzibar slave trading.[citation needed]
During the1964 Ethiopian-Somali War, the United States government supported theEthiopian Empire against theSomali Republic.US Air Force transport aircraft delivered military aid the Ethiopian army.[1][2] Mlitary assistance during the conflict included deployment ofUS army combat training teams and the construction of anair base close to the Somali border.[3][4] TheUnited States abandoned its usual position of neutrality in the Ethiopia-Somali dispute soon after fighting in theOgaden escalated into a full-scale border. The scale of American support to Ethiopia was significant enough that the U.S. embassy in Mogadishu sent a cable cautioningWashington that if the full extent of American involvement in the conflict was discovered, there would be a serious political fallout with Somalia.[4]
During the 1970s, theUnited States had made an offer to sell arms Somalia prior to theOgaden War against Ethiopia. This offer was withdrawn following the news of Somali troops operating with theWestern Somali Liberation Front in theOgaden Region.[5] Due to what was deemed the "illegal nature of Somali action", theCarter administration refused even to permit shipment of American weaponry from allied nations to the Somalis during the war.[6] After the Ogaden War, the Americans began supplying the Somali army. From 1979 to 1983, Somalia had imported US$30 million worth of American arms.[7] Only in the aftermath ofEthiopia's 1982 invasion was US military aid to Somalia significantly increased.[8]
The US had been courting the Somali government for some time on account of Somalia's strategic position at the mouth of theBab el Mandeb gateway to theRed Sea and theSuez Canal.[9][10]
After the collapse of the Barre government and the start of theSomali Civil War in the early 1990s, theUnited States embassy in Mogadishu wasevacuated and closed down. However, the American government never formally severeddiplomatic ties with Somalia, leading the UN-sanctioned multinationalUnified Task Force (UNITAF) in southern Somalia. Following the establishment of theTransitional Federal Government (TFG) in 2004, the U.S. also acknowledged and supported the internationally recognized TFG as the country's national governing body. It likewise engaged Somalia's regional administrations, such asPuntland andSomaliland, to ensure broad-based inclusion in the peace process.[11]
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TheFederal Government of Somalia was established on August 20, 2012, concurrent with the end of the TFG's interim mandate.[12] It represents the first permanent central government in the country since the start of the civil war.[12] On September 10, 2012, the newFederal Parliament also electedHassan Sheikh Mohamud as the incumbentPresident of Somalia.[13] The election was welcomed by the U.S. authorities, who re-affirmed United States' continued support for Somalia's government, its territorial integrity and sovereignty.[14]
In January 2013, the U.S. announced that it was set to exchange diplomatic notes with the new central government of Somalia, re-establishing official ties with the country for the first time in 20 years. According to theDepartment of State, the decision was made in recognition of the significant progress that the Somali authorities had achieved on both the political and war fronts. The move is expected to grant the Somali government access to new sources of development funds from American agencies as well as international bodies like theInternational Monetary Fund andWorld Bank, thereby facilitating the ongoing reconstruction process.[15][16]
At the behest of the Somali and American federal governments, among other international actors, theUnited Nations Security Council unanimously approvedUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 2093 during its 6 March 2013 meeting to suspend the 21-yeararms embargo on Somalia. The endorsement officially lifts the purchase ban on light weapons for a provisional period of one year, but retains certain restrictions on the procurement of heavy arms such as surface-to-air missiles, howitzers and cannons.[17] On April 9, 2013, the U.S. government likewise approved the provision of defense articles and services by the American authorities to the Somali Federal Government.[18] At the request of the Somali authorities andAMISOM, the U.S. military in late 2013 also established a small team of advisers in Mogadishu to provide consultative and planning support to the allied forces.[19]
On 5 May 2015, President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Prime MinisterOmar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, and other senior Somali government officials met with US Secretary of StateJohn Kerry in Mogadishu. The bilateral meeting was the first ever visit to Somalia by an incumbent US Secretary of State.[20] It served as a symbol of the ameliorated political and security situation in the country.[21] The officials focused on the benchmarks enshrined within Somalia's Vision 2016 political roadmap, as well as cooperation in the security sector.[20]
In January 2017 after PresidentDonald Trump took office, Somali citizens were temporarily banned from entering the United States by the executive order "Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States." This also includes Somali refugees who are willing to resettle in theUnited States throughthe US refugee admissions program.
After the election of Somali-American dual citizenMohamed Abdullahi Mohamed as the next Somali President, US Secretary of StateRex Tillerson congratulated the president-elect and is looking forward to strengthen the relationship between Somalia and the United States and thatthe recent elections marks an important milestone in Somalia's ongoing transition to peace, stability, and prosperity.[22]
The United States has continued to be one of the main suppliers of armaments to theSomali National Army (SNA). In June 2009, the reconstituted SNA received 40 tonnes worth ofarms andammunition from the U.S. government to assist it in combating the Islamist insurgency within southern Somalia.[23] The U.S. administration also pledged more military equipment and material resources to help the Somali authorities firm up on general security.[24]
Additionally, the two countries engage in minor trade and investment. The United States exports legumes, grain baking-related commodities, donated products and machinery to Somalia. Somalia in turn exports precious stones and low-value shipments to the United States.[25]
In March 2025, Somalia's breakaway region ofSomaliland rejected Somalia's offer to give the United States exclusive control over theBerbera port and airbase. Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991, views the facilities as its own and not Somalia's to offer. The strategic Berbera port, located on theGulf of Aden, is operated by theUAE'sDP World. Somalia's PresidentHassan Sheikh Mohamud had proposed the deal in a letter toUS President Donald Trump, suggesting that these assets would strengthen US security operations in the region. However,Somaliland's government dismissed the offer, citing the territory’sde facto independence and its ongoing hope for international recognition.[26]
Somalia maintains an embassy inWashington, D.C.[27] Between July and December 2014, thediplomatic mission was led by Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, who served as Somalia's first Ambassador to the United States since 1991.[28] As of April 2015,Fatuma Abdullahi Insaniya is the Ambassador of Somalia to the United States.[29] The Somaliland region also has a Liaison Office in Washington, D.C.[30]
The US opened aConsulate-General in Mogadishu in 1957, the capital of theTrust Territory of Somaliland, a UN trusteeship under Italian administration. The consulate was upgraded toembassy status in July 1960, when the US recognized Somalia's independence and appointed an ambassador. It later closed down in January 1991, following the start of the civil war.[31] The US also operated a consulate inHargeisa in northwestern Somalia in the 1960s.[32] In June 2014, in what she described as a gesture of the deepening relations between Washington and Mogadishu and faith in Somalia's stabilization efforts, U.S. Undersecretary of StateWendy Sherman announced that the United States would reopen its diplomatic mission in Mogadishu at an unspecified future date.[33] In February 2015, U.S. PresidentBarack Obama nominated Foreign Service veteranKatherine Simonds Dhanani to become the new Ambassador of the United States to Somalia.[34] Dhanani later withdrew her nomination in May of the year, citing personal reasons.[35]
In May 2015, in recognition of the sociopolitical progress made in Somalia and its return to effective governance, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced a preliminary plan to reestablish the US embassy in Mogadishu. He indicated that although there was no set timetable for the premises' relaunch, the US government had immediately begun upgrading its diplomatic representation in the country.[36] President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke also presented to Kerry the real estatedeed for land reserved for the new US embassy compound.[37] In November 2015, Somalia re-opened its embassy in Washington, DC.[38]
In December 2018, the United States reopened a "permanent diplomatic presence" in Mogadishu. The new mission will not be a full embassy and some diplomatic staff are expected to remain at the US Embassy inNairobi,Kenya where the U.S. Mission to Somalia is based.Larry Andre Jr served as U.S. ambassador to Somalia until May 2023.[39][40][41][42][43]Richard H. Riley IV is current American ambassador to Somalia.
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromU.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets.United States Department of State.
only in the aftermath of the 1982 Ethiopian–Somali border conflict that US military aid to Somalia significantly increased
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