Al-Shabaab's Media Insurgency, 2006-2016

Hate Speech International, a three year old, Norwegian-based independent network of journalists and researchers has just published a study titled "Continuity and Change: The Evolution and Resilience of Al-Shabab's Media Insurgency, 2006-2016" by Christopher Anzalone, research fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

This excellent report examines the history and evolution of al-Shabaab's media operations capabilities and narrative messaging with particular attention to its strategic use and position within the insurgents' broader strategy of territorial control, survival, and rule in light of shifts on the ground inside Somalia. Since 2012, the report increasingly focuses on neighboring countries such as Kenya. The continuing evolution of al-Shabaab's media operations capabilities has proven to be a valuable tool in the insurgent group's overall strategy of territorial expansion and implementation of a form of rebel governance over certain areas of Somalia.

Sudan 2014 Religious Freedom Report

The State Department has released the Sudan 2014 International Religious Freedom Report.  The Sudan government estimates that approximately 97 percent of the population is Muslim and 3 percent is Christian.  Some religious advocacy groups estimate non-Muslims make up between 15 to 20 percent of the population.

There was a general consensus among religious leaders that Muslim and Christian communities generally co-existed peacefully.  Muslim citizens sometimes harassed and intimidated non-Muslims, however, and pressured them to convert to Islam.  Because of the overlap between ethnicity and religion, it was often difficult to determine whether reported abuses were specifically due to religious intolerance.

The Secretary of State redesignated Sudan a country of particular concern under the International Religious Freedom Act for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.

Land Conflicts in Southern and Central Somalia

The Rift Valley Institute published in 2015 a study titled "Hosts and Guests: A Historical Interpretation of Land Conflicts in Southern and Central Somalia" by Lee Cassanelli, University of Pennsylvania.

Cassanelli explains that many of the land conflicts are rooted in long histories of competition over land and water between neighboring communities, or in struggles between local landholders and a predatory state.  International actors attempting to address land conflicts tend to invoke universally acknowledged rights of restitution of property seized unlawfully from individuals and groups.  Circumstances in Somalia, however, make it extremely difficult to apply international norms in the allocation of rights and protection to those who have been forcibly deprived of their homes and properties.

He concludes that by drawing on indigenous and historically-grounded patterns of resource sharing by "hosts" and "guests", it may be possible gradually to reinvigorate the notion--rooted in local and Islamic tradition--that land and resources are gifts from God to all Somalis, and in doing so diminish a reliance on clan exclusivity as the primary principle for defining rights to territory.

Militant Islam in Somalia and Kenya

The Rift Valley Institute ran on 7 October 2014 a ten minute video interview between Rashid Abdi and Nimo-Ilhan Ali on militant Islam in Somalia and northern Kenya.  It discusses traditional moderate Sufi Islam in Somalia and the rise of Wahhabism and Arab influences in Somalia and Kenya. 

The World's Muslims: Africa

The Pew Research Center published on 30 April 2013 a book length study titled "The World's Muslims: Religion, Politics, and Society."  The report examines the social and political views of Muslims around the world.  It is based on public opinion surveys between 2008 and 2012 in 39 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe.  African countries included in the survey are Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, DRC, Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Ghana, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal.

The study looks at sharia, religion and politics (democracy, religious freedom, Islamic political parties, extremism and suicide bombing), morality, women in society (veiling, divorce, inheritance, and women's rights), relations among Muslims, interfaith relations and religion, science and popular culture.