Somalia: State Collapse, Terrorism and Piracy

129 Pages·2011·3.515 MB·English

by  Brian J. Hesse

Somalia: State Collapse, Terrorism and Piracy
The situation in Somalia today embodies some of the most pressing issues in interna-
tional relations. How should the international community deal with the collapsed state
that is Somalia? From the presence of al-Qaeda operatives to pirates, to what extent is
Somalia athreattoglobalpeaceandcommerce?WhichaspectsofSomalia'seconomic,
social and political landscape can be considered successful, and how do these ‘success
stories’reflect some of the more problematic issues the country faces?
This book sheds light on all of these topics and more. The book iswritten to appeal
to a wide audience, from specialists in international security, development and/or
humanitarian issues, to students and casual readers. Its six contributing authors, with
their focus on current events mixed with historical perspective, ensure readers get
varying views of what is happening today in the Horn of Africa.
This book was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of Con-
temporary African Studies.
Brian Hesse is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwest Missouri State
University, USA. He is also a seasonal African Safari Guide for the US-based com-
pany Cowabunga Safaris. In addition to articles in the Journal of Contemporary Afri-
can Studies, Current History, International Journal, the Journal of Asia-Pacific Affairs,
AfricanStudiesReviewandotherpublications,DrHesseisalsoauthorofthebook The
United States, South Africa and Africa: Of Grand Foreign Policy Aims and Modest
Means.
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Somalia: State Collapse, Terrorism
and Piracy
Edited by
Brian Hesse
Firstpublished2011
byRoutledge
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SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada
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First issued in paperback 2012
©2011InstituteofSocialandEconomicResearch
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Contents
Notes on Contributors vii
1. Introduction: The myth of ‘Somalia’
Brian J. Hesse 1
2. The UN-led Djibouti peace process for Somalia 2008–2009:
Results and problems
Apuuli Phillip Kasaija 13
3. Somalia and global terrorism: A growing connection?
Mohamed Ibrahim 35
4. The fourth point: An examination of the influence of Kenyan
Somalis in Somalia
Donovan C. Chau 49
5. An open letter to Uncle Sam: America, pray leave Somalia
to its own devices
Said S. Samatar 65
6. Putting Somali piracy in context
J. Peter Pham 77
7. Where Somalia works
Brian J. Hesse 95
Index 115
v
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Notes on Contributors
Donovan C. Chau is Assistant Professorof Political Science and a core faculty member
in the Master’s programme in national security studies at California State Uni-
versity, San Bernardino, in the United States. Prior toentering academia, heworked
for the US government on homeland security, terrorism, and counter-terrorism
issues. Dr. Chau has published articles in Comparative Strategy and the Journal of
the Middle East and Africa, along with a number of monographs, book chapters,
and book reviews. He is author of Global security watch: Kenya (Praeger, 2010).
Brian Hesse is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwest Missouri State
University, USA. He is also a seasonal African Safari Guide for the US-based
company Cowabunga Safaris. In addition to articles in the Journal of Contemporary
African Studies, International Journal, the Journal of Asia-Pacific Affairs, African
Studies Review and other publications, Dr. Hesse is also author of the book The
United States, South Africa and Africa: Of Grand Foreign Policy Aims and Modest
Means (Ashgate, 2001). He served as guest editor for the Somalia issue of the
Journal of Contemporary African Studies and this book.
MohamedIbrahim isaResearchFellowattheNationalCentreofExcellenceinIslamic
Studies, Melbourne University, Australia. His research interests include Islam and
its role in the politics of the Horn of Africa.
Apuuli Phillip Kasaija holds a PhD in International Criminal Law from the University
of Sussex, United Kingdom. He teaches in the Department of Political Science and
Public Administration, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. He has previously
served as the Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution-Advisor at the
IGAD Secretariat, Republic of Djibouti. The views expressed in this paper do not
necessarilyrepresentthoseofIGAD.WhilsttheauthorisindebtedtoKizitoSabala,
Dr. Tony Karbo, the anonymous JCAS reviewer, and JCAS guest editor Dr. Brian
Hesse who made useful comments on the draft, he takes responsibility for all the
final mistakes.
J. Peter Pham is Senior Vice-President of the National Committee on American For-
eign Policy in the United States. He also holds an academic appointment as
Associate Professor of Justice Studies, Political Science, and Africana Studies at
JamesMadison University.Heis the Vice-President oftheAssociation forthe Study
of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of the
Middle East and Africa. His more than 300 articles and reviews have appeared in
vii
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
various publications, including Foreign Policy, The National Interest, American
Foreign Policy Interests, The RUSI Journal, Comparative Strategy, Contemporary
Security Policy, and The Journal of International Security Affairs. Dr. Pham also
writes a weekly internet column on African security issues which is accessible at
http://worlddefensereview.com/strategicinterests.shtml.
Said S. Samatar is a Professor of African History and Islam in Africa at Rutgers
University in the United States. He is a Somali-born, naturalised American citizen.
Professor Samatar has authored or co-authored four books, edited or co-edited two
more, and published countless articles. He is editor of the Horn of Africa Journal,
has been interviewed on CNN, in the New York Times and Newsweek, and is a
frequentgueston ‘VoiceofAmerica’.HisforthcomingbookthatdealswithSomalia
is called Fool’s Errand.
viii
Introduction: The myth of ‘Somalia’
Brian J. Hesse
NorthwestMissouri State University, USA
Amythcaneitherbeafalsebelieforanidealisedconception.Thisintroduction
demonstrateswhy‘Somalia’ is both.
‘Somalia’ in abstract
‘Somalia’,anumber-seven-shapedcountryonthenorth-eastern hornoftheAfrican
continent,haslongbeenacontestedconcept,evenamongstSomalis.Forexample,at
independence in 1960 when British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland united to
formTheRepublicofSomalia,someSomalisagitatedforamuchlargerversionofa
country.Theircountry,a‘GreaterSomalia’,wouldhaveincludedSomalibrethrenin
whatistodayDjibouti,easternEthiopiaandnorthernKenya.Indeed,itwasinpart
with an eye to expandthe contours of ‘Somalia’that the Mogadishu-based dictator
General Mohamed Siyaad Barre invaded the Ethiopian Ogaden in 1977/78. After
suffering some 25,000 casualties in less than a year and losing the war, an array of
opposition forces rose up, all intent on overthrowing the Barre regime. It ultimately
fellaftermanybloodyyears,inJanuary1991.Thusbeganadefinitivefragmentation
of ‘Somalia’.
In the wake of the Barre regime’s collapse some three million Somalis (out of
an estimated population of between 6.8 to eight million in ‘Somalia’) declared
unilateral independence in May 1991; they continue to build their independent
RepublicofSomaliland inthenorthwest. Inthenortheast some1.5million Somalis
declared their own autonomous state of Puntland in 1998; in the intervening years
they have elected four presidents, the most recent having assumed office in January
2009. In the middle and south of Somalia various ‘autonomous states’ have been
declared (cid:1) Galmudug State in 2006, for example (cid:1) albeit they have tended to look
andfunctionlikemuchoftherestoftheanarchicsouth,knownforitsshifting,often
violent, patchwork of clan-based fiefdoms. And, of late, variations of yet another
typeofSomalinationalisthaverisenup:onewishingtoforgea‘historicSomaliland’
in the name of Islam. Presumably these Islamists’ geographic vision bears little
resemblance to the distinctly shaped ‘Somalia’ of most maps.
Thefactthatthe‘Somalia’ofmostmapsenduresowesmuchtotheinternational
community. From the United Nations down through its member states, including
thoseintheAfricanUnionandtheArabLeaguetothebesiegedTransitionalFederal
1