The report makes the following points:
- Western engagement in Yemen and Somalia is based on a state-building framework involving diplomacy, development and defense. Yet the priority attached to security-sector interventions undermines the balance of political and economic actions needed for this approach to succeed.
- Western policies are contributing to a sense among some Yemenis and Somalis of being under attack and are drawing them towards radicalization and militancy.
- The threat of radicalization extends throughout the far-flung diasporas of Somalia and Yemen, defying efforts at containment within the two countries and requiring new thinking about stemming the appeal of radicalism at its source.
- Conventional counterterrorism and counter-piracy strategies are hindered by the existence of multi-million dollar shadow business networks spanning the Gulf of Aden.
