Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991, but there has never been any international recognition of the region as a nation state. In the decade that followed Somaliland managed to negotiate peace among the clans while neighbouring Somalia descended into violence and chaos. Sarah Phillips argues that the lack of aid and international intervention meant that Somaliland was given a rare opportunity to work out their own way to a fragile but enduring peace. Sarah's book When There Was No Aid: War and Peace in Somaliland has been awarded the 2020 Crisp Prize by the Australian Political Studies Association.