Border Regions in Transition XVII Conference; University of Central Lancashire, Pyla,Cyprus

Conference: Border Regions in Transition XVII Conference; University of Central Lancashire in Pyla,Cyprus
May, 26 – May, 29, 2025

Presentation: “Internal and External Legitimacy and Power: NGOs Navigating Somaliland’s De Facto Statehood”

REPORT:

In May 2025 I had the opportunity to attend the Border Regions in Transition (BRIT) XVII conference. This year, the BRIT conference theme was “Contested Borderlands as Spaces of Negotiation and Adaptation,” and was hosted by the University of Central Lancashire in Pyla, Cyprus. 

There, I presented my MA thesis, tentatively titled “Negotiating internal and external legitimacy: The effects of Somaliland’s nonrecognition on its civil society.” This project draws on 97 interviews with civil society actors and six weeks of ethnographic fieldwork in Somaliland– an unrecognized, democratic country in the north of Somalia– to address the question: What is the effect of a country’s nonrecognition on civil society? Unrecognized countries, such as Somaliland, have functioning governments and strong national identity, yet their independence has not been recognized by recognized states or international organizations, such as the United Nations. Therefore, they are excluded from international networks of governments and organizations, which constrains their development and government capacity. In this paper, I situate my data from Somaliland among literature about legitimacy and the international network of states, countries, and organizations. I study this network structure’s impact on civil society, demonstrating how Somaliland’s lack of international recognition: (1) exacerbates power imbalances among civil society actors, (2) undermines civil society autonomy and oversight, (3) constricts mobility and network formation, (4) displaces power to the parent-country Somalia, and (5) shapes civil society roles and internal legitimacy. I conclude by discussing the broader implications of my theory of legitimacy for both future study and our understanding of inter-institutional relations across global contexts. The BRIT conference was a wonderful opportunity to receive feedback on my work and network with scholars and practitioners with similar research interests. 

It was a privilege to share my research with leading scholars of borders, governance, and de facto states, from whom I received valuable feedback. I look forward to refining my paper in the coming months. Additionally, I learned immensely from attending nearly two dozen presentations about borderlands, securitization, secession, identity, and migration in contexts including Afghanistan, Cyprus, Nagorno Karabakh, Poland, Syria, Tajikistan, Taiwan, Transnistria, Ukraine, and the United States, among others. More broadly, I was familiarized with the multidisciplinary field of border studies– both its development and expected trajectory.

This year marked the 16th iteration of the BRIT conference, which invites global scholars to participate in an academic conference in a location with a contested borderland. This year, the conference took place in Cyprus. At the risk of oversimplifying, Cyprus is a divided country–the internationally recognized government is located in the south, and is an European Union member state composed mostly of Greek-ethnic communities. In the north, predominantly ethnic-Turkish communities are governed by the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The conference was hosted by the University of Central Lancashire in Pyla, “the last Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot mixed village in Cyprus,” located within the UN buffer zone separating the two territories. My hotel was outside of the buffer zone, in the Greek country. On my final day at the conference, participants had the opportunity to visit Nicosia. Nicosia is a divided city, situated half in the recognized Republic of Cyprus, and half in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. We visited both sides of the city, exploring and comparing constructed narratives, political realities, histories of the island, and discussing comparative implications for our own research. 

In sum, the BRIT conference was a wonderful opportunity to gain feedback on my thesis before submitting it for publication, learn about Cyprus, engage with current research in my substantive field of study, and network with fellow researchers of contested borderlands and unrecognized countries.