Understanding the Somalia Conflagration

Afyare Abdi Elmi

Description

Is peace-building in Somalia possible? Devastated by a US-backed Ethiopian invasion and years of civil war, Somalia has long been without a central government, against this background of violence and instability, Somali academic Afyare Abdi Elmi, explains the multiple dimensions of the conflict, seeking a peace-building consensus.



Somalia is a failed state and a Muslim state, a combination the West assumes means it's a breeding ground for extremism. Coupled with the country's reputation as a piracy hotspot, this combination of internal division and outside interference makes for an intensely hostile landscape. Elmi shows that only by addressing the problem of the statelessness in the country can the long process of peace begin. He highlights clan identities, Islam and other countries in the region as the key elements in any peace-building effort; setting out a path for the international community to follow.
Acknowledgments

Preface

Note On Methods

1. Introduction

2. Understanding The Sources Somali Conflict

3. Clan Identity And Implications For Peacebuilding In Somalia

4. Making Sense Of Islam And Islamic Awakening In Somalia

5. Revisiting U.S. Policy Toward Somalia After September

6. The Role Of Regional Countries And Organizations In The Somali Conflict

7. Peacebuilding Education: Contested Resource And Vehicle For Social Transformation

8. Role For The International Community: Options And Implications

9. Conclusion: Way Forward

Further Research

Recommendations

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• Political Science
• Islamic Studies
• Somalia
• Somalie

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 04 juin 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783713622
• Langue: English

Extrait

Understanding the Somalia Conflagration
UNDERSTANDING THE SOMALIA CONFLAGRATION
Identity, Political Islam and Peacebuilding
Afyare Abdi Elmi
First published 2010 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA www.plutobooks.com
Pambazuka Press 51 Cornmarket Street Oxford OX1 3HA www.pambazukapress.org
Distributed in the United States of America exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
Distributed in Africa exclusively by Pambazuka Press
Copyright © Afyare Abdi Elmi 2010
The right of Afyare Abdi Elmi to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN  978 0 7453 2975 8  Hardback ISBN  978 0 7453 2974 1  Paperback (Pluto Press) ISBN  978 1 906387 76 1  Paperback (Pambazuka Press) ISBN  978 1 849645 54 6  PDF eBook ISBN  978 1 783713 63 9  Kindle eBook ISBN  978 1 783713 62 2  EPUB eBook
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin.
10   9   8   7   6   5   4   3   2
Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Chase Publishing Services Ltd, Sidmouth, England Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England Simultaneously printed digitally by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, UK and Edwards Bros in the United States of America
This book is dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of Somalis who perished during Somalia’s brutal civil war and the subsequent Ethiopian occupation. I also dedicate this book to the aspirations of the millions of Somalis who are striving and struggling to establish a peaceful and prosperous Somalia .
Markay dani meeday tidhi Maxaan talo meel ka deyey, Markay dani maaha tidhi Weyddiiyey qof meel ka deyey, Markay dani maaha tidhi Ku laabtay halkaan ka deyey, Markay dani maaha tidhi Ka sii deyey meel la-deyey .
When a need arose,
I searched for a solution
When that solution did not work
I asked someone who also tried to resolve the problem
When that solution did not work [again]
I looked again in the same place I searched before for the solution
When that solution did not work for me
I searched again in a place that has already been looked [by someone else] for a solution . *
Mohamed I. Warsame (Hadrawi), ‘Dabahuwan’ * These are the first lines of ‘Dabahuwan’ (Covered from the bottom), which Hadrawi composed in 1995. In the poem, Hadrawi asserts that those who are trying to resolve the Somali problems are searching for solutions in the wrong places. In this first stanza, he argues that the imported foreign mechanisms that are used cannot address the Somali problem at all.
Contents
Acknowledgements Preface Note on Methods
  1.
  Introduction: Conflict and Peace in Somalia
The Somali conflict: why we should care
Major arguments
Statelessness, piracy and peacebuilding
The Somali conflict
Challenges to ending the Somali civil war
Organization of the book
Conclusion
  2.
  Understanding the Sources of Somali Conflict
Somalia: brief background
Competition for resources and power
Colonial legacy and military repression
The peace conferences: why did they fail?
The Mbagathi conference and transitional federal government
Conclusion
  3.
  Clan Identity and Implications for Peacebuilding in Somalia
The nature of clan identity
Functions of clan identity
Clan identity and the Somali civil war
Impact of clan identity on peacebuilding
Analysis and options for addressing clan identity in Somalia
Conclusion
  4.
  Making Sense of Islam and Islamic Awakening in Somalia
Islam and its role in Somalia
Islamic awakening: what is it and why is it popular?
Evolution of Islamic awakening in Somalia
Islamic movements and their methods of social change
Islamic courts in Somalia: a vehicle for social change
The Islamic awakening and its implications for peacebuilding in Somalia
The future of the Islamic awakening or ‘Islamism’ in Somalia
Conclusion
  5.
  Understanding the US Policy toward Somalia
Context
War on terror: definitions, principles and goals
Politics of adding Al-Ittihad and Al-Shabab to the terrorist list
US support for Somali warlords and the Ethiopian occupation
The US role in deposing the Union of Islamic Courts
Somali perceptions of the US role
The Obama administration and Somalia: Is there any change of policy?
Conclusion
  6.
  The Role of Regional Countries and Organizations in the Somali Conflict
Ethiopia: historic enemy and hostile neighbour of Somalia
Ethiopia and post-state collapse in Somalia
Kenya: facilitator and beneficiary of the conflict
Djibouti: peace promoter in Somalia
Regional organizations: instruments used by Ethiopia and Kenya to perpetuate Somalia’s conflict
Analysis and implications for peacebuilding in Somalia
Conclusion
  7.
  Peacebuilding Education: Contested Resource and Vehicle for Social Transformation
Education in Somalia: background
Role of education in the Somalia conflict
Politics of reconstruction
Education and identity
Citizenship education in Somalia
Peace education in Somalia
Peacebuilding education in Somalia
Challenges of using education for social change: analysis and implications
Conclusion
  8.
  Role for the International Community: Options and Implications
Understanding the international community and its role in peacebuilding
Somalia under a UN trusteeship system
United Nations transitional administration
Supporting home-grown solutions
  9.
  Conclusion: A Way Forward
Further research
Recommendations
  Notes Selected Bibliography Index
Acknowledgements

Completing a book project requires the efforts of more than one person. My case was no exception, and I benefited from many people while researching and writing this publication. I would like to thank Dr W. Andy Knight and Dr Terrance Carson, who supervised my PhD thesis. Without their guidance, help and understanding, I would not have produced this book. I am also grateful to the members of my dissertation committee, Dr Ali A. Abdi, Dr Yasmeen Abu-Laban and Dr Tom Keating, for their support and encouragement.
Many of my friends were able to discuss the project and provide feedback over the past three years. Special thanks go to Said Mohamud Mohamed (Said Suugaan) and Dr Abdullahi Ahmed Barise. I spent many hours debating with Said on the findings and contentious points. Said also read most of the chapters and critiqued my arguments and assertions. Moreover, I thank Said for allowing me to use his library, as he has a large collection of books, reports and electronic resources on Somalia and East Africa. Similarly, Dr Barise’s comments helped me clarify my arguments. In addition, I am grateful to Katie Lehman, who read the manuscript several times to edit and format the book. The discussions that I had with Abdulrahman Aynte, Ali Weheliye, Mohamed Duale, Abdirashid Khalif, Hassan Mahadalla, Mohamud Khalif, Awalle Abdi, Mohamed Elmi, Abdullahi Sheikh Aden, Zainab Hassan, Sahal Abdulle, Hussein Santur, Yusuf Hassan and Ladan Affi helped me clarify arguments, and I would like to thank them for their support and invaluable advice.
Many more people helped me to complete this book. Among them are those whom I interviewed, Somalis and non-Somali individuals. During my two field research trips to Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, Eritrea, Qatar and United Arab Emirates, I met and discussed the issues in this book with many Somalis. Their information, analysis and thoughts enriched and strengthened this study, and I would like to thank all of them.
Moreover, since I joined the University of Alberta, I benefited from the institutional resources of the university. As a student, I completed courses that directly and indirectly contributed to this publication. I am grateful to my teachers: Dr W. Andy Knight, Dr Terrance Carson, Dr Tom Keating, Dr Fred Judson, Dr Jenine Brodie, Dr George Richardson, Dr Malinda Smith, Dr Dianne Conrad and Dr David Smith. While at the University of Alberta, I taught several courses including Theories of International Relations, Introduction to Political Science, and Conflict and Peacebuilding. More than 150 students took this last course and critiqued some of my views. I am grateful to all of them. I also taught similar courses at the Qatar University’s International Affairs Department, where students’ discussion and critique was useful to me – I thank them as well.
I am also grateful to Dr Lois Harder, Coordinator of the Graduate Program of the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta, for her understanding, advice and support. The administration staff of the Political Science and Secondary Education departments have always addressed my questions and have made my stay at the university enjoyable. I thank Tara Mish, Marilyn Calvert, Cindy Anderson, Donna Coombs-Montrose, Dawne Cook, Donna Lauritsen, Kateryna Nowytzkyj, Vanessa Ianson and Nancy Evans.
Most important of all, I would like to thank my wife, Sahro Ali Ebar, and my children, Mohamed, Maryama, Faizo and Abdulrahman, who not only understood the long hours I spent away from home but always supported me. Without their understanding, commitment and sustained support, this project would not have come to fruition.
With respect to funding, I am grateful to the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa, as it provided a grant that helped me to carry out this research. Information on the Centre is available at www.idrc.ca. I also appreciate the grants and scholarships I received from the University of Alberta in order to comple