Somali-Americans Try to Join ISIS

The New York Times reported on 20 April 2015 a story titled "6 Minnesotans Held in Plot to Join ISIS" by Scott Shane.  The FBI prevented six young Somali-Americans from Minneapolis from joining a colleague who managed to reach the Islamic State in Syria.  The six apparently were not recruited by anyone but decided on their own to go to Syria.  It is curious that al-Shabaab in Somalia is no longer the attraction for this small disaffected group.

Somali-American Candidate for Minnesota House of Representatives

The Associated Press ran on 3 August 2014 a story titled "Somali Candidate Eyes Milestone in US Race" by Kyle Potter.  It concerns the candidacy of Mohamud Noor, a Somali-American, who is running in the Democratic primary race in Minneapolis for a seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives.  He is running against the incumbent.  This district is heavily Democratic; the winner of the primary will likely win the seat in the House of Representatives.  Should Noor win, he would be the first Somali-American to hold a seat in a state legislature in the United States.  Minneapolis is home to the largest Somali community in the United States.

Al-Shabaab and Somalia

The Navanti Group hosted a workshop in New York City 24-26 January 2012 for representatives of various U.S. government agencies and local law envforcement jurisdictions. I gave on 25 January a presentation on al-Shabaab and Somalia in the 21st century. I tried to cover the importance in Somalia of political Islam, some of the larger regional issues and the problems posed by forcing Somali hawalas out of business.

You can read my remarks here.

Somalia - Al-Shabaab - NYC Navanti Workshop