Historic analysis of Somali civil war since 1991 and its consequences for international security (original) (raw)
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Somalia has had internal conflicts for over two decades. There have been various external and internal attempts to try and end the war, or better yet mitigate the effects of the war. However, the failure of these attempts resulted in the decision to rank Somalia under the Failed State Index since 2008 all the way to 2011. This dissertation examines and analyses the external and internal causes of the war in Somalia while assessing the role of international relations in the dispute. There have been various international organisations like the AU, IGAD and the UN that have worked to try and resolve the conflict using both force and diplomacy. However, these methods have not been as successful as hoped since the war is still on. The goal of this research paper is to critically analyse the internal and external causes of the war and also to find whether the dispute can be resolved peacefully to make Somalia a fully functioning state.
The Somali Civil War: Root cause, and contributing variables
Somalia, like many other African countries, has experienced a state of clan warfare which has brought to a total state collapse and a deep-rooted conflict that fragmented the country, deteriorated the physical security, and institutional deformity. The consequence of this anarchic condition, the basic social services such as education, healthcare and public security were not offered. It was also led to a catastrophic condition such as famine and drought. As a result, Somalia became synonymous with failed state, terrorists, warlords, famine, tribal wars and even pirates. This paper is based on qualitative analysis with a document review technique and critically evaluating of the Somali civil war literature. Additional sources of information on online media like websites and newspapers focusing on topics like civil wars in Africa and in Somalia are used. It aims to investigate the role played by the politicized clan identity factor together with communal content, and deterioration of basic needs, bad governance and state's repressive role and international linkages. The investigation revealed that these variables are the necessary underlying and contributing causes, proven to be a sufficient condition for the Somali civil war. Moreover, these variables shown have strong explanatory power and performed well in the outbreak of the Somali civil war.
International Journal of Politic and Security, 2020
The collapse of the military regime in Somalia on 21 January, 1991was followed by a bloody civil war among clans which caused a severe humanitarian crisis that caught the mainstream media headlines. However, most of the studies about the civil war and its implications at the time have indicated an internal conflict. The emergence of armed Islamists alongside the US policies of counterterrorism after 9/11 has changed the nature and direction of the Somali conflict. External ef forts aimed to reduce armed Islamists have backfired and benefited for their political gains. Therefore, this article aims to reflect upon the birth of Islamist groups in Somalia by paying much attention to the emergence of jihadi Islamism and their role in the transformation of Somali conflict; from civil among clans to war on terror. Furthermore, sheds light that regional and international interventions have impacted negatively on the ongoing efforts of state and peacebuilding but also urges the demilitarizat...
The Somalia Civil-War from 1988-1991
2019
Somalia‟s defeat in the Ogden War strained the stability of the Siad regime as the country faced a surge of clan pressures. An abortive military coup in April 1978 paved the way for the formation of two opposition groups: the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), drawing its main support from the Majeerteen clan of the Mudug region in central Somalia, and the Somali National Movement (SNM), based on the Isaaq clan of the northern regions. This paper argues that following the fall of Mohammed Siad Barre‟s regime, leaders of different opposition groups mobilized the government, military, and clan structures towards their own political ends, leading to renewed conflict. As groups with various interests/agenda emerged; I intend to explain how the faction leaders functioned as political entities and how the civil war was occurred and to give a brief in sight of the Somalia civil war from 1988-1991 including its origin, course of the war and consequence over the Somalia people by anal...
Governance, conflict and the United Nations interventions in Somalia
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Somalia has seen a rise of various fundamentalist groups who have engaged in terrorism and numerous wars crimes and human rights violations in the territory they control with relative impunity.It became imperative for the international community and the United Nations to intervene in limiting the massive humanitarian crisis. The United States carried out several strikes targeting Islamic terrorists in Somalia.The purpose of this paper wasto provide a brief overview of governance and conflicts in Somalia and its role in facilitating the rise of various terrorist organizations in the country and the region. In this context, this paper has explored and compared the number of aerial strikes in Somalia under the last three years of President Barack Obama's presidency (2014-2016) and the first three years of President Donald Trump's presidency (2017-2019). The economy of Somalia is recovering slowly and it is improving the lives of people in areas controlled by the Somali Governme...
This study aims to critically understand the involvement of external actors, most notably Kenya and Ethiopia in the Somali conflict. It also aims to discuss peace prospect for Somalia in consideration with regional interest. Adopting Mary Kaldor's "New War" theory that explains the changing context and transnational character of wars in the new era, and Michael E. Brown's concept of causes and Regional Dimensions of Internal Conflict in combination with applied peace and conflict research method, the study finds that the involvement of neighbouring states, particularly Kenya and Ethiopia, in the Somali conflict is necessitated by the "spill-over" effect of the internal conflict coupled with transnational threats posed to their national security by various local and international actors. Furthermore, the study reveals that Somalia's conflict hosts a variety of politically, religiously and militarily motivated external actors, who also openly vowed to internationalize their activities. As a result, the connections between local actors in Somalia and terrorist groups operating elsewhere, but cooperating with them, have become a source of continuous instability to Somalia, the eastern African region and beyond.