The
official name of Somali is the Federal Republic of Somalia, located in East
Africa and borders with Ethiopia in the west, Djibouti in the northwest, the
Gulf of Aden in the north, Kenya in the southwest, the India Ocean in the east.
Somalia lies at a very strategic place in the world which is a gate for the Red
Sea and the Arabian Peninsula. In addition, it is of highly importance for the regions
of the Middle East, the North Africa, and for the Sub-Saharan Africa in terms
of its geographical condition. The population of Somali is approximately 10 million
and the majority of the population believes in the religion of Islam. There are
different ethnic groups in the country, including 85 percent of Somali
(Samaale), and 15 percent of Bantu and other non-Somali. The Samaale ethnic
group composes of the four important clan groups, including Isaaq, the Dir,
Daaroodeach, and Hawiye. The Samaale live in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and
Kenya. Somali and Arabic are the official language of the country.[1]
Throughout
the history, Somalia had been used as an important trading station by the
different civilizations. Somalia has a unique place on the international
politics. Since 1991, there has not a central government in the country, facing
a deep political, social, and economic instability. It is described as a
collapsed state by the international community.[2]
East Africa is among the poorest regions in the world. Due to the long-standing
civil war in Somalia, economic and political institutions have failed to
provide the basic services to the citizens. Since 1991, hundreds of thousands
of Somali have died due to violence and starvation and approximately one
million was forced to free the country. Infrastructure in the country is
extremely bad. While unemployment rate
is 74 percent, life expectancy is around 50 percent. 82 percent of the
population is poor and the unemployment rate for the youth is 67 percent. 73
percent has no access to health facilities.[3]
During
the colonial period, the Somali people were divided by the colonial powers.
European colonial powers established their colonies, known as British
Somaliland Italian Somaliland, and French Somaliland after the signing of the
Berlin conference of 1884-5. While Britain colonized present-day north-western
Somalia, Italy took control over the current north-eastern, central and
southern Somalia. French also colonized present Djibouti called French
Somaliland and controlled it until 1977. During the Second World War, Britain
took possession the Italian Somaliland and ruled it until 1949. The former
colonial powers established their colonies in Somalia so as to control the
route to India, to exploit resources, to strengthen their trading network, and
to use it as a coal station. Between 1950-1960, the Italian Somaliland became a
UN trusteeship under Italian administration. On 26 June 1960, Somalia gained independence
from Britain in the north and Italy in the south on 1 July 1960. The two
different former colonial territories under the President Aden Abdullah Osman
Daar decided to unite and declared its independence by forming the United
Republic of Somalia on 1 July 1960.[4]
The
period of the dictatorship in the country began after Major General Mohamed Said
Barre staged a bloodless coup against the elected government on 21 October
1969. After he came to power, he changed the name of the country as the Somali
Democratic Republic. Said Barre established the Supreme Revolutionary Council
(SRC) in 1969 to rule the country and became the president of the SRC between
1969-1991. He banned all the political parties and activities, abrogated the
parliament and the Supreme Court and shelved the constitution. In his period,
social and economic problems extensively increased and he used an oppressive
policy against the oppositions, in particular the Isaaks clan. Said Barre
pursued an irredentist policy and claimed the eastern region of Ethiopia, the
north-eastern part of Kenya and the country of Djibouti. The Ethiopian-Somalia War
or Ogaden War began with the Somali army attacked the region of Ogaden in July
1977, claiming that the region of Ogaden historically belonged to Somalia.
During the war, General Siad Barre provided political and military support for
the secessionist group in the eastern region of Ethiopia known as Western
Somali Liberation Front (WSLF) and aligned with the Soviet Union and bought
weapons from the Soviet Union, the worth of the billions of dollars. The main motivation behind the war was that
Somali under the leadership of Said Barre aimed to create a Greater Somalia by
taking possession over the Somali-inhabited areas in East Africa. The war ended
in March 1978.[5]
Importantly,
both global actors the Soviet Union and the US played an active role in escalating
the war by selling weapons to the both countries Somalia and Ethiopia. The US
provided political and military support for Ethiopia until 1974, while the
Soviet Union also supported Somalia. With the coming of a military regime in
Ethiopia in 1974, the leader of the military government in the country Mengistu
Haile Mariam began to increase its relations with Moscow. Throughout the
Ogadeen War, the Soviet Union supported Ethiopia, such as the deployment of the
Soviet military troops and the helping of deployment of the Cuban military
troops in the country to fight against Somalia. In 1974, the Soviets signed a
Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with Somalia. In December 1976, the Soviet
also signed a military agreement with Ethiopia. In response to it, Siad Barre
dissolved the 1974 Soviet-Somali Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation and sent
the Soviet advisers back to the Soviet. In 1974, the US began to reduce the
degree of the relationship with Ethiopia and increased its partnership with
Somalia, aimed to decrease the influence of the Soviet Union in the region.[6] In
the 1970s and the 1980s, Somalia became the country that received the largest
financial aid of the US in Africa but most of the money was used for the
military expenditures by the regime of Siad Barre. The Ethiopian-Somalia War
reflected the struggle for power among the global powers over the Horn of
Africa and illustrated the nature of the proxy war in the region.
Since
the collapse of the regime of Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia has fallen into
anarchy and long-standing conflicts. The north of the country (the territory of
the former British Somaliland) by the clan of the Isaaq within the framework of
the Somalia National Movement (SNM) declared its independence as a Republic of
Somaliland from the rest of Somalia in May 1991; however, its self-declared
independence was not recognized by any government in the world. In 1998, the
region of northern-east also declared its own self-autonomous as a State of
Puntland. Importantly, Ethiopia has supported both the secessionalist groups
such as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) in the north-west in
Somalia and the Somalia National Movement in the region of Puntland.[7]
After the fall of the regime of Siyad Barre,
regional and international actors have attempted to establish a central
government in Mogadishu. The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was
established in Nairobi, Kenya in October 2004 under the auspices of the
sub-regional organization Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
and the “Transitional Federal Charter (TFC)” was adopted. Abdullah Yusuf Ahmad
was elected as the head of the TFG by the Parliament. Importantly, the
“Transitional Federal Institutions” were also created with the adoption of the
TFC in 2004. The TFG was supported by the United Nations, the African Union and
the US and recognized by the international community. In June 2006, the Islamic
Courts Union (ICU) attacked Mogadishu and captured the southern part of the
country, including Mogadishu; however the TFG with the support of Ethiopian
military troops and the AU peacekeeping force prevented the invasion of the ICU
in 2006. According to Paham,[8]
the TFG was not a government because it could not provide the basic services to
the people of Somalia. It was extremely dependent on the assistance of foreign
troops. With the end of the mandate of the TFG in August 2012, the Federal
Government of Somalia (FGS) was established and accepted as a central
government of Somalia by the international community.[9]
The
UN has deployed the two peacekeeping missions in Somalia, known as the UN
Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM I – 1992) and (UNOSOM II – 1993-1995). The US also
dispatched its military troops in the country called the US-led Unified Task
Force (UNITAF – 1992-1993). However, the three international military
interventions have failed to maintain peace, security and stability in Somalia.
The African Union has also maintained a peacekeeping mission in the country
called African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) since February 2007, which
mainly aims to strengthen the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) and
support the TFG.
There
are three important dimensions of the conflict in Somalia, namely
international, regional and domestic.[10]
The civil war has not only threatened political and economic interests of the
Somalis but also menaced strategic interests of the global actors, notably the
EU and the US. Somalia is at the strategic place to control over the Arab
peninsula and the oil transportation route. The war in Somalia has led to the
emergence of the threat of the piracy off the coast of Somalia which threatens
the trading activities of the global actors on the Horn of Africa. The
international actors have deployed their operations in order to protect their
economic activities, international maritime security and prevent the piracy
attacks in the Gulf of Aden, and the off the coast of Somalia. For instance the
EU deployed its naval mission called the EU NAVFOR – Atalanta (2008-present).
The US also authorized its naval operation in 2009 called Combined Task Force
151. The NATO also has a naval mission called Operational Ocean Shield on the
off coast of Somalia since 2009.
The
second dimension is the regional dynamics in East Africa. The legacy of the
colonialism has still affected the regional developments in the region. For
instance, the colonial power divided Somalia and the countries in the region
between different ethnic groups. Particularly, the ongoing border dispute
between the states in this region is the legacy of the colonial powers. Since
Somalia has gained its independence, it has pursued an aggressive foreign
policy to annex the Somali-inhabited regions in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti
under the policy of irredentism. The third dimension is the internal dynamics.
Somalia is among the poorest countries in the world and corruption is extremely
very high in the country. Unemployment rate and underdevelopment have posed a
number of challenges which damage economic and political stability. It
is unclear how the diverse strategic interests of the various regional and
international actors involved in the Somali crisis for a long time would
contribute to maintaining peace, security and stability in Somalia.
There
are three important steps for creating lasting peace and security in the
country. The first is that the different segments or tribes in the society
rather than the through international interventions should take responsibility
to unite the country. The second one is that the Somalis themselves should take
initiative to create the institutions of the state to make the government a
functioning entity. The third step is the focus on development in the country.[11]
While development can significantly contribute to social, economic and
political stability, underdevelopment will make the country the worst. The
countries in East Africa have strengthened their military power and paid the
billions of the dollars for it despite the extreme poverty in the countries.
Changing the traditional foreign policies for the countries and developing
economic-oriented foreign policies in the region are necessary to change the
destiny of the region. Particularly, the struggle for power among the different
clan groups has destabilized the regional security and economic relations among
the countries.
References:
[1] World Bank, “Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics”,
2005, Working Paper, pp. 7-8.
[2] J. Peter, Pham, “Somalia: Where a State Isn’t a State”,
The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, Vol., 32, No. 2, 2011, p. 133.
[3] United Nations Development
Programme, “Fact Sheet: Somalia Human
Development Report 2012”, 2012, pp. 1-2.
[4] Ibrahim Farah, Abdirashid
Hussein, and Jeremy Lind, "Deegaan, Politics and War in Somalia." Scarcity
and Surfeit. Institute for Security Studies. Pretoria, South Africa (2002),
pp. 323-4.
[5] World Bank, “Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics”, 2005, Working Paper,
pp. 9-11.
[6] Kenneth, G. Weiss, “The Soviet Involvement in the Ogaden War”,
1980, Center for Naval Analyses, pp. 1-14.
[7] Bjorn, Moller, “The Somali Conflict: The Role of External
Actors”, DIIS Report 2009, Danish Institute for International Studies, pp.
10-1.
[8] J. Peter, Pham, “Somalia: Where A
State Isn’t a State”, The Fletcher Forum
of World Affairs, Vol., 32, No. 2, 2011, p. 147.
[9] Matt, Bryden, “Somalia Redux? Addressing the New Somali
Federal Government”, 2013, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS),
pp. 14-16.
[10] Rossella Marangio, “The Somalia Crisis: Failed State and
International Interventions”, 2012, IAI Working Papers 12, Istituto Affari
Internazionali, pp. 2-3.
[11] Ibid., p. 15.
