Power Sharing in Somalia

Chatham House published on 19 November 2014 commentary titled "The Pitfalls of Power-sharing in Somalia" by Jason Mosley.  It describes the most recent governance crisis following differences between President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed. 

Alternatives for Conflict Transformation in Somalia

The Life and Peace Institute (LPI) in Uppsala, Sweden, recently published a study titled "Alternatives for Conflict Transformation in Somalia: A Snapshot and Analysis of Key Political Actors' Views and Strategies."  LPI is an international center that supports non-violent approaches to conflict transformation.

The study concludes that dividing Somali political actors into two categories, extremists and moderates, has produced a distorted understanding of the conflict and undermined the political and military effort to resolve it and rebuild the Somali state.  The study was conceived to address the distorting effect of the counterterrorism discourse.  A key finding is that Somalia, particularly south-central Somalia, is more diverse politically than the binary terrorism-counterterrorism discussion suggests.  The conflict is also more multi-layered and multidimensional than the picture painted by the counterterrorism narrative. 

Mogadishu Still Not a Safe Place

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) published on 28 August 2013 a highly informative interview with Andrews Atta-Asamoah, who just returned from a visit to Somalia.  Titled "Mogadishu Still Not a Safe Place," the interview makes clear that security in Mogadishu remains precarious even though there has been a lot of progress.  Al-Shabaab makes effective use of guerrilla tactics and AMISOM is overstretched.  Atta-Asamoah also worries that the federal government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is more concerned with pleasing the international community than dealing with the domestic Somali audience.

Islamism and Politics in Somalia

Abdurahman M. Abdullahi, director of al-Islah's political office and a Somali presidential candidate, spoke at Chatham House in London on 12 June 2012. He focused on the role of Islam in Somali politics. Al-Islah developed in 1978 as the Somali branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Click here to read a summary of Abdullahi's comments.