This article explores the articulation—in different forms, at different periods, and by different actors—of ‘national self‐determination’ in Somalia and across the Somali‐speaking regions of the Horn of Africa. It explores how this concept can be understood in the context of protracted political fragmentation in Somalia—considering unresolved debates over the ideological foundations of state reconstruction, disagreements about the suitability of federalism, aspirations for the recognition of an independent Republic of Somaliland, and the distinctive trajectory of the Somali Regional State in Ethiopia. Taking a comparative, cross‐border and wide‐angled historical approach, the article argues that ideas of an ethno‐linguistically, culturally and religiously defined Somali ‘nation’ continue to coexist (and be reproduced, updated and used) within an environment of extreme political fragmentation and across multiple ‘state’ boundaries. This argument is made through comparative analysis of contemporary examples of the performance of Somali state and nationalist identities within and beyond the region and the distinctive transnational Somali‐language media environment within which these ideas circulate and compete.

中文翻译：

---

自我决定和一颗破碎的星星：非洲索马里之角的国家地位和民族认同

本文探讨了索马里以及非洲之角索马里各地区“民族自决”的不同形式，不同时期，不同参与者的表述。它探讨了如何在索马里旷日持久的政治分裂背景下理解这一概念，其中包括未解决的关于国家重建的意识形态基础的辩论，关于联邦制适用性的分歧，承认独立的索马里兰共和国的愿望以及独特的索马里问题。埃塞俄比亚索马里州的轨迹。本文采用比较，跨界和广角的历史方法，认为种族，语言，文化和宗教定义的索马里“民族”的观念继续共存（并被复制，更新和使用）在极端政治分裂和跨多个“州”边界的环境中进行。这一论点是通过对区域内外的索马里国家和民族主义身份以及这些思想在其中传播和竞争的独特的跨国索马里语言媒体环境的当代例子进行比较分析而得出的。