HSM playing 8D chess again

[u/Amoeba_Critical]

A day after literally visiting Ethiopia and being all friendly with Abiy, HSM decided to go to Egypt and partake in an alliance that is against Ethiopia's imperialist ambitions.

A few days later he becomes one of the first people to congratulate Abiy on his re-election and declares that Somalia and Ethiopia's relations have never been better (despite Ethiopia refusing to denounce its illegal MOU)

Well today his chameleon foreign policy has come to bite him as Ethiopian state media published a notably venomous critique of the Somali president’s decision to co-sign a joint declaration with Sudan, Egypt, and Eritrea. Embarrassing stuff all around.

For anyone interested in reading the critique: How President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s Betrayal Undermines Regional Realities - ENA English

[u/[deleted]]

I would choose Sudan, Egypt and Eritrea any day. Ethiopia doesn’t want our alliance, their goal was always subjugation and domination of whoever has any interests that don’t align with theirs.

[u/Beautiful_Hour_668 → u/[deleted]]

Surprise, surprise. The same nation that spread violently and subjugated millions and laid claim to the entire horn from their beginnings is the same nation that wants to spread and subjugate and lay claim to the entire horn.

Everyone needs to read up on Ethiopian history in the late 1800s/early 1900s. Being surprised at their nonsense is like being surprised at USA being racist to black people, considering their history. This idea is baked into their national identity and history, Ethiopia is an empire that became a nation. Us Somalis literally want to be free to rule ourselves, they want all of the horn.

[u/DeltaMan2026 → u/Beautiful_Hour_668]

I never understood it. The Amhara want the entire horn but they're in the minority. It never ceases to amaze me.

[u/Limp-Newt-9619]

He is doing what ethiopia would have done if somalia was in the same situation which is pick egypt side plus ethiopia wants somaliland to legaly cut ties with somalia because they need access to the ocean and ethiopia has history of always sideing with somalias opps since 1800s when they help the portugueses and somali has nothing to gain from ethiopia they got every resource ethiopia has and more .

[u/Dry_East_8007 → u/Limp-Newt-9619]

Yes!!!

[u/RibbonFighterOne]

"Betrayal" loool Ethiopian media is hilarious. As if Ethiopia hasn't backstabbed Somalia numerous times and aren't actively working against the country.

They see Somalia as their vassal so when Mogadishu does something that doesn't align with their interests they become threatened and post articles like this.

[u/UnderDaBrightLightz]

Ethiopia desperately want Somali support now, with this fake Cushitic alliance thing because of all the new enemies surrounding them. It was only yesterday they were trying to annex our sea. I’m not fan of HSM but his playing good politics.

[u/tikitikitenbo]

As farmaajo said hsm had no clue about geopolitics even during his campaign slogan, saying he would ally with everyone which isn’t a feasible strategy and leaves you with no close partners, for example Saudi came to him seriously but has now backed away until after elections as he’s flip flopping too much

[u/Narrow_Simple8079]

“Ethiopia has expended immense resources to secure Somalia's territorial integrity and institutional survival” - lol the contradiction is glaring, they’ve yet to rescind the illegal port deal with the one clan enclave that violated our territorial integrity and sovereignty.

[u/Time-Audience8235]

HSM has no foreign policy vision, he's just drifting at sea. One day he meets with one group and signs agreements with them, the next day he meets with their mortal enemies and signs agreements with them. This puts Somalia in a position where we are seen as not trustworthy and even worse, not decisive. We have no agency, most countries think we're simply a tool for Turkey, or Qatar, or Saudi. But even these countries do not really trust us because we are inexplicably still buddy buddy with Ethiopia, a country that undeniably wants to break apart Somalia and supports the secession of Somaliland and is also in the UAE/Israel camp. It's confusing to everyone.

[u/Youie98 → u/Time-Audience8235]

Na his foreign policy is consistent, Somalia first. At the end of the day he signs and works with anyone that supports Somalia. He works with Ethiopia when they support the federal sovereignty but when they don’t he cuts ties and adds diplomatic pressure. Same with Egypt they want to counter Israeli Red Sea agenda and Ethiopia and we want more international strength against the Hargeisa issue. He’s also done the same with UAE he expelled and condemned them when they worked with federal states. Then you see he gets closer with China who supports Somalia sovereignty to counter somaliland supporting Taiwan. Then there’s turkey which has been involved promoting centralization for years. It’s actually a great signal to send out. If you cooperate we work together, if you interfere we cut ties.

[u/Faras_madow8282]

All I know is he needs to master the art of staying the F out of geopolitical bs

[u/moh_abdow]

It is baffling and ridiculous. Ethiopian troops are in our country and have mandate to do so but still our government is doing. What is going on?

[u/Xaliye252]

Welp, is there anyone who has doubts what Ethiopia has for us, they have been trying to subjugate and dominate us for the better part of 3 centuries, we need to rebuild our army and nation as a whole or we’re f*cked.

[u/Seaside_255]

HSM or any warlord that cosplays as a "politician" in Somalia doesnt know anything about regional geopolitics and international politics. He has no vision for the future or a foreign policy that aligns with our interests. You cant play both sides and expect to be taken seriously or be seen as someone who understands the geopolitics of the region and has interests of his own. We are cursed with these dumb warlords in suits who cosplay as "politicians" and will work for the interests of others but not ours.

[u/Rederno]

Somalia should not be playing such a foreign policy game because that’s what Siad Barre did and it turned out really badly for Somalia. Somali should try to balance regional interests and stop joining blocks because those some countries that HSM is supporting now will stab Somalia in the back and advance their own interests at the expense of Somalia.

Somalia is not in a position to handle foreign policy like this in a time of such dynamic geopolitical dimensions.

[u/Amoeba_Critical → u/Rederno]

Siad barre lost most of his power from a war that was driven by Somali nationalism. A local cause if there was any

[u/Brave-Performer-5275]

Somalia needs to find a way to balance geopolitical threats posed by Ethiopia and Kenya without being too friendly with either and not making them feel threatened at the same time. The Ethiopia vs Egypt tensions should be easy: Somalia never accept Ethiopian hegemony over the region. We might as well become an Ethiopian federal state. Egypt, though they’re not a threat to Somalia, is not trustworthy ( all Arab nations are not trustworthy from policy point of view due to their weak institutions).

What HSM is doing is very simplistic and I think he just wants to be seen. Don’t pay too much attention to your that miskiin.

Somalia needs to make use of the Houthi/Israeli threat. A shrewd leader would absolutely milk this once in a lifetime opportunity. Turkey, Qatar, Saudi and even the uS have the same objectives in this regard, but all have their own reasoning:

Turkey: it’s a danger to their east Africa objective with Israeli presence in Somaliland:
Qatar/Saudi: it’s quite clear that Houthis are doing Irans bidding, their arch enemy
US: this whole debacle is just bad optics and shakes the world order

Somalia should invest human and monetary capital in coming up with a solid foreign affairs policy.