Somalia: Most Failed State

The Economist published on 10 September 2016 an article titled "Somalia: Most-failed State." It concludes that while there has been progress in Somalia, a country with a functioning government and safe streets seems as distant as ever.

Somalia: Female Captain in Somali National Army

Newsweek published on 28 February 2016 a story titled "Meet the Female Somali Military Captain Fighting Al-Shabab" by Conor Gaffey.  It is an account of Iman Elman, a captain in the Somali National Army who wants to improve the situation for women in Somalia. 

Update on Al-Shabaab Attacks

The Washington Post Monkey Cage Blog posted on 19 January 2016 a commentary titled "Three Things We Learned from Last Week's Al-Shabaab Attack in Somalia" by Paul Williams, George Washington University.

William discusses al-Shabaab in the aftermath of its recent attack on AMISOM's forward operating base at El Adde.  He notes that since mid-2013, al-Shabaab has become an increasingly extremist and transnational network with the stated aim of creating a caliphate across East Africa.

Somalia: Lessons from Other Civil Wars

The Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center published on 17 November 2014 a commentary titled "Military Integration after Civil Wars: Any Lessons for Somalia?" by Paul Williams, George Washington University.

Williams draws on information from a new book edited by Roy Licklider titled New Armies from Old: Merging Competing Military Forces after Civil Wars.  The book provides eleven case studies: Sudan, Zimbabwe, Lebanon, Rwanda, Philippines, South Africa, DRC, Mozambique, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sierra Leone, and Burundi.  Based on the research in the Licklider book, Williams asks if it has lessons for the situation in Somalia. 

The Security Sector and State Building in Somalia

The Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars published in August 2014 an analysis titled "The Hybridization of Security Sector Governance for Peace-Building and State-Building in Somalia" by Daniel Kebede, a PhD candidate at Addis Ababa University. 

The paper argues for the use of hybridized security governance to consolidate peace and state building in Somalia and suggests how neighboring countries and the international community might support Somali efforts to preserve peace.  It proposes that the Somali Federal Government decentralize security sector governance and integrate traditional justice systems and local militia into the governance structure with well articulated roles and a system of accountability.

Somalia: Al-Shabaab -- It Will Be a Long War

The International Crisis Group (ICG) published on 26 June 2014 a solid and detailed analysis titled "Somalia: Al-Shabaab -- It Will Be a Long War."

ICG concluded that al-Shabaab represents a culmination of the long-term shift toward social conservatism in Somalia that is difficult to reverse.  As an insurgent group, al-Shabaab retains core constituencies in many parts of south-central Somalia that are not currently addressed by locally-acceptable governance alternatives.  As an organization, al-Shabaab has demonstrated an aptitude for strategic planning that should not be underestimated.  It remains rooted in its Somali context, is willing to learn and benefit from external influence--notably al-Qaeda--while retaining a strong inclination toward local autonomy. 

Building an Effective Somali National Security Force

The Woodrow Wilson Center's Africa UP Close blog published a piece on 7 April 2014 titled "Lessons from the Field: One Somalia, One Army? Building an Effective Somali National Security Force" by Paul D. Williams, associate professor in the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University.  Williams analyzes the current challenges facing the Somali National Army and its external donors.

Some Ideas for Dealing with Al-Shabaab

Roger D. Carstens, a former U.S. Army Special Forces Officer who recently spent 15 months in Somalia as an observer and military advisor, offered some excellent advice for countering al-Shabaab in a 7 October 2013 piece in Foreign Policy titled "Analog War: How to Rid Somalia of Al-Shabab Once and for All--in Six (not-so) Easy Steps."