Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Somalia: Assessing the Campaign Against Al-Shabaab

The Rand Corporation has just published a study titled "Counterterrorism and Counterinsurgency in Somalia: Assessing the Campaign Against Al-Shabaab" by Seth G. Jones, Andrew Liepman, and Nathan Chandler.

The study concluded that a tailored engagement strategy--which involved deploying a small number of U.S. special operations forces to conduct targeted strikes, provide intelligence, and build the capacity of local partner forces to conduct ground operations--was key in degrading al-Shabaab. Nevertheless, progress in Somalia is reversible in the absence of continued and consistent pressure and political, economic, and social reforms.