Foreign Affairs published on 25 November 2020 a commentary titled "Somalia Must Learn to Stand Alone: Before It Can Stand Together with the Rest of the Horn of Africa" by Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, president of Somalia from 2012 to 2017.
The author argues that neither Ethiopia nor Somalia is ready for deeper integration. Ethiopia is sliding toward instability and preoccupied with both internal ethnic conflicts and border disputes with Somalia and Eritrea. Somalia is too politically fragmented, fragile, and imperiled by extremists such as al-Shabaab to benefit much from regional integration right now.
