State Instability in Somalia

There have been several Islamic militant groups in Somalia with the aim of controlling the country. Al-Shabaab is the current of those groups with a claim to make Somali an Islamic state, while at the same time getting rid of the inter-clan wrangles. However, the group’s actions were more of polarizing the communities along religious lines. The Narcissism of minor difference applies here as well; Somalia’s population is overwhelmingly Muslim. However, Al-shabaab has an extremist view of Islam and intends to make everyone follow the same ideas, those who do not, they believe deserve to die. Solomon argues that Al-Shabaab’s form of Islam contradicts with most of Somali’s cultural beliefs, hence creating a major rift between the militants and the population (p352, 2014). The group use the worst kind of violence against people they believe do not follow the ‘right’ Islam; from beheading and lynching alleged offenders to bombing local mosques, restaurants, and learning institutions (various). Again, all of their victims inside Somalia are Muslim Somalis who worship the same God as them, but according to them, they worship Him the wrong way. Blok in trying to justify his claim cited a Balkan expert, Hammel on the conflict in the former Yugoslav republics (p126, 2000). He argues that the Serb and Croat peasants do not claim the same

It is worth noting that Somalis are a mostly homogenous population. Specifically, they share a common language, religion (mostly Sunni Muslim, minority Shi'i) and a common historical identity. The main source of internal contention has always been disputes between the four main clan-families; the Dir, Darod, Isaaq, and Hawiye clans.(Jennifer De MaioTITLE:Managing Civil Wars: An Evaluation of Conflict-prevention Strategies in Africa ) However at this point in history, the Somali people, longing to break out from imperial rule, unified briefly under the Salihiyah tariqa, an orthodox muslim brotherhood led by Mahammad Abdille Hasan. The so-called, Dervish rebellion targeted the British and Egyptian

Somalia is one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries (Campbell). Because of the Civil War, which broke out in 1991, much of Somalia’s economy has been devastated. The war left many

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on the surface is an effective fighting force in Somalia; however, the success of AMISOM is contingent upon Ugandan participation. The existence of AMISOM is due to a long Somali history of political / economic instability and the current struggle against the Somalia based terrorist organization, Al-Shabaab. The overall objective within Somalia is to eliminate or at a minimum contain the Al-Shabaab threat. The creation of AMISOM assists the Somalian Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and its allies to effectively target Al-Shabaab while using the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), and African Union (AU) backed AMISOM as an umbrella organization.

Somalia’s issues of tribal warfare is a perfect example the kind of threat an “Us vs Them” mentality has towards community. As people start to value their groups over the well being of everyone then they all end up suffering. Somalia’s have been fighting against their own people allowing their country to go to ruins and now it's hard to come back from this kind of disparity, so the problem goes on.

As more and more foreign forces made their way into Somalia attention fell on the

As far as any indications of state(s) sponsorship officials have “found no direct ties” among the Somali pirates and regional or international terror groups such as Al Shabaab, radical Islamist, or al-Qaeda at present, and “the pirates show no

Somalia’s worst violent outbreak in the last 10 years began, in May 2006 with Islamist

There are many external actors that have played an immediate role in Somalia conflict which are neighboring countries and first there will be a focus on sub region and four of its constituent states for example Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya and Djibouti

In Kathy Gilsinan’s With World Focused on Boko Haram, al-Shabaab Steps Up Offensive (http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/13841/with-world-focused-on-boko-haram-al-shabaab-steps-up-offensive), the topic of al-Shabaab’s legitimacy and terror is discussed. As Boko Haram (another terrorist organization in Africa) has begin inflicting fear through the abduction of schoolgirls and other acts of terror, al-Shabaab has began to take up arms. Its acts of violence are beginning to spread outside the borders of Somalia.

In 1969 a coup headed by Mohamed Said Barre introduced a socialist rule characterised by the persecution jailing and torture of political opponents. However, in 1991 this military-led government was overthrown, leaving Somalia without a functioning central government. (Central Intelligence Agency, (2015). Consequently Somalia descended into a period of factional fighting, anarchy and civil wars which still continues today. In this state of turmoil, Somalia is also without an effective police force, with no law strictly stated, society is corrupted. Land mines are a danger wherever you are and illegal roadblocks are common. There is armed conflict, kidnapping, dangerous levels of violent crimes and an ongoing very high threat of terrorist attack from a group known as 'Al Shabaab' (Travel Advice, (n.d.) ). Al Shabaab - translated as 'the Youth' - have been recognised as a dangerous, unpredictable militant group by the governments of Australia, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, (n.d.) ). In such an unstable and unreliable political situation it is only logical that people emigrate away from Somalia, otherwise they will live in fear of persecution. With a corrupted government and an unkept society, a time of peace in Somalia looks very far

Since its independence, Somalia has encountered one opposition after another. Boarder disputes, internal struggles, unstable government, civil war, lawlessness, massive famine, tribal warfare, increased terrorism, peacekeeping failures, and piracy all have shaped the state of Somalia to become what it is today. This case study seeks to explore the reasons behind the various failures, struggles, and difficulties past Somalia has encountered, the challenges present Somalia faces, and the recommendations a future Somalia can look forward to as a unified nation under a stable and successful economy.

The Al-Shabaab is regarded as one of the most dangerous African terrorist organizations. Al-Shabaab is a multiethnic militant group out of Somalia that uses many terrorist tactics in attempts to gain control over the country of Somalia. They use many forms of terrorism that include ideological revolutionary, dissident, and nationalist terrorism, as they have the motive to gain power over a territory by overthrowing the government. The Al-Shabaab is suspected to have taken part in many terrorist attacks, including the 1998 United States embassies bombings. The motive behind their violence is their goal of creating an Islamic state in Somalia, which they believe is morally justified by the ideological beliefs. An important psychological

Al-Shabaab as a terrorist group poses a significant threat in Somalia and in the global community. This paper will start by discussing the background. In this part the paper will show how the group has evolved from Al-Ittihad Al-Islam (AIAI) to the Islamic Court Union (ICU) and lastly to Al-Shabaab. Before discussing the group’s threat of national security, homeland and international, this paper will provide the conceptual meaning of key terminology, such as national security, homeland security, international security and globalization. It is important to understand these concepts before moving toward the main argument of the paper. After providing the framework for key concepts, the paper will discuss the group’s threat to Somalia in two areas, national security and homeland security. The paper will go further and identify the threats posed by the group on other nations’ homeland security and international security. We will use East African countries and the United States examples. The paper will provide evidence to support how globalization has shaped and fueled the threats from Al-Shabaab. It will then discuss the primary response from the United States and from African countries through AMISOM. The paper will provide the way forward and suggestions for the response of the international community to Al-Shabaab. In conclusion, we will try to alert the international community that although the group has been experience hard times in Somalia, it is unwise to

Another policy option involves increasing economic stability through the utilization of an action group to increase success and effectiveness of assistance. Somalia’s unstable economy has been the leading cause of recruitment to al-Shabaab. “Somalia has received approximately $1 billion in official development assistance (ODA) annually (including both humanitarian and development