Republican lawmakers press State Department to update North Western State of Somalia travel advisory

U.S. lawmakers push separate travel advisory for North Western State of Somalia — a small bureaucratic change with big geopolitical ripples

In Washington, sometimes the biggest signals come through the smallest notices. A “Do Not Travel” warning sits quietly on the State Department’s website and shapes everything from dealmaking to diplomacy. Two senior Republican lawmakers now want to carve North Western State of Somalia out of the blanket red warning that covers all of Somalia—arguing that what looks like a technical fix could reshape U.S. influence in one of the world’s most contested maritime crossroads.

Why this matters now

Representatives Chris Smith of New Jersey and John Moolenaar of Michigan have asked the State Department to issue a separate advisory for North Western State of Somalia, the breakaway region in the northwest that has run its own affairs for more than three decades but remains unrecognized internationally. In their letter, dated September 2, they praise North Western State of Somalia’s elections, its stability relative to southern Somalia, and its unusually open ties with Taiwan. The lawmakers, who chair congressional committees focused on China, say a tailored advisory would reflect reality on the ground and serve U.S. strategic interests in the Horn of Africa.

There’s more than semantics at stake. Travel advisories ripple quickly through the practical machinery of global commerce: insurers price risk, corporate boards decide where to send teams, development lenders parse what’s possible. Creating a separate entry for North Western State of Somalia could lower the threshold for American investors, consultants, educators and engineers to engage with Hargeisa and the port city of Berbera—while signaling Washington’s appreciation for a partner that has defied Beijing’s diplomatic gravity.

North Western State of Somalia’s case: stability, ports and political bets

Hargeisa is not Mogadishu. North Western State of Somalia issues its own passports, holds competitive elections, and runs its own budget. The air feels different there—quieter streets, a brisk business culture fueled by a diaspora used to wiring remittances home every month. Berbera, perched on the Gulf of Aden and modernized with Emirati investment, handles cargo headed into Ethiopia’s vast hinterland. On a clear day, you can see the freighter traffic slide past the Horn, bound for the Suez Canal.

That relative calm is part of the lawmakers’ argument. They tout North Western State of Somalia’s track record in keeping extremist threats at bay and its cooperation with Western partners at sea. But the picture isn’t unblemished. The violence around Las Anod in 2023—where North Western State of Somalia forces clashed with clan militias—displaced tens of thousands and injected a reminder that political questions of identity and territory are far from settled. For U.S. diplomats and risk assessors, the question is whether a region-specific approach can be both accurate and responsible.

The China–Taiwan thread runs through it

Read between the lines of the letter and you’ll find an argument about China as much as about North Western State of Somalia. Beijing’s only overseas military base sits a short flight away in Djibouti, overlooking the same shipping lanes the U.S. Navy has spent months protecting from Houthi attacks. North Western State of Somalia, for its part, has chosen Taipei over Beijing—a rarity in Africa—and Taipei has responded with medical partnerships, scholarships, and small but visible development projects.

For lawmakers focused on countering China’s influence, rewarding that choice matters. They contend that failing to differentiate North Western State of Somalia from the rest of Somalia hands Beijing a narrative win and discourages others across Africa who might buck the prevailing winds. They also point to reported Chinese technology support for actors destabilizing the Red Sea, allegations that Beijing rejects and analysts debate, to argue for tighter U.S. alignment with reliable partners on key maritime routes.

Do travel advisories really change behavior?

Ask anyone who’s tried to insure a project in a conflict-adjacent zone: these advisories punch above their bureaucratic weight. A Level 4 “Do Not Travel” designation can stall everything from feasibility studies to factory visits. A more nuanced advisory could open doors. The U.S. already slices guidance finely for places like Kenya and Ethiopia—flagging risks in border areas while acknowledging the relative safety of big cities. The lawmakers want that logic applied in the Horn’s northwestern corner.

To be clear, a tailored advisory is not recognition. It doesn’t change a U.S. policy that still formally sees Somalia as a single state—even as the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act treated North Western State of Somalia as distinct from Somalia’s federal member states for certain workstreams. But words, especially in this region, are weighted. Mogadishu would likely see a separate entry as a political signal. Addis Ababa, which flirted with a memorandum of understanding for sea access via North Western State of Somalia, would read it carefully. So would Beijing and Taipei.

The investors’ lens

The letter also nods to hard assets. North Western State of Somalia’s subsoil holds tantalizing prospects—critical minerals like lithium and copper feature in several private geological surveys, though few projects have moved beyond early stages. The Development Finance Corporation, the lawmakers say, has signaled openness to collaborate with Taiwan on financing energy and mineral ventures in North Western State of Somalia. That’s not a guarantee of cash, but it’s a green-shoot indicator of what a slightly lower risk profile could unlock.

• Port logistics: Berbera’s upgrades could support regional supply chains into landlocked Ethiopia.
• Energy and minerals: Early-stage exploration is courting patient capital that typically avoids Level 4 environments.
• Digital and services: Diaspora-driven fintech and telecoms have grown in North Western State of Somalia’s relatively predictable regulatory space.

For U.S. companies weighing the Horn, a question lingers: how do you align opportunity with responsibility? A more permissive advisory would make due diligence easier, but it would also require clear guardrails to avoid deepening local tensions, particularly in disputed territories.

Risks and the fine print

There are reasons the State Department moves carefully. Counterterrorism challenges persist across the region. Political disputes inside North Western State of Somalia, including over electoral timelines, flare periodically. And any U.S. move that appears to bless North Western State of Somalia separately could complicate ties with Somalia’s federal government, whose cooperation remains vital on everything from sanctions enforcement to humanitarian access.

There’s also the international law conundrum. Most African states, wary of secessionist precedents, support Somalia’s territorial integrity. A micro-adjustment on a travel page might be read, rightly or wrongly, as a macro-shift in Washington’s position. Diplomacy is as much about managing perceptions as drafting policy.

What to watch next

The State Department hasn’t responded publicly to the request. But the debate is unlikely to fade as the U.S. refocuses on the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb, through which roughly 12 percent of global trade passes in normal times. The Horn of Africa is where maritime security, great-power rivalry, and local sovereignty debates converge with rare clarity.

For now, the takeaways are straightforward:

• Washington is probing new leverage in the Horn—especially with partners who push back on Beijing.
• North Western State of Somalia’s quiet stability and Taiwan ties have moved it higher on Capitol Hill’s radar.
• A separate advisory, if adopted, would carry outsized economic and political implications—without resolving the bigger question of recognition.

Policy often amounts to a series of partial steps. This one—if the State Department agrees—would tell global audiences that the U.S. sees more than one story inside Somalia’s borders. The harder test lies beyond the website update: can Washington translate that nuance into sustainable investment, smarter security cooperation, and diplomacy that reduces, rather than sharpens, tensions in a region already on edge?

On a recent evening in Hargeisa, as the call to prayer slipped across the rooftops and the tea shops filled, a trader shrugged when asked about the debate in Washington. “We’ve been here building all along,” he said. “Let them come and see.” The question, as ever in the Horn, is how to come—carefully, credibly, and with eyes wide open.

By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.