Ethiopia’s U.S. ambassador says his government needs more international help in securing Somalia and is wrongly blamed by Congress for rights abuses.

Ambassador John M. Yates, U.S. special envoy to Somalia, says the security situation remains dismal in Mogadishu and the Somali people lack confidence in the Transitional Federal Government.

Terrence Lyons, an expert on the Horn of Africa, says despite U.S. concerns about al-Qaeda, it is local rivalries driving conflicts in Somalia and elsewhere in the region.

Jeffrey Gettleman, East Africa bureau chief for the New York Times, examines African conflicts that have continued even without clear ideology and goals.

Robert Paarlberg of Wellesley College writes in The Atlantic about how to avert a repeat of Somalia's 1992 famine.

The Nation's Jeremy Scahill offers a look into CIA counterterrorism operations in Somalia, particularly the CIA presence in Mogadishu. Washington is intensifying its focus on Somalia, including targeted strikes by U.S. Special Operations forces, drone attacks, and expanded surveillance operations.

In a Bloomberg feature, Noah Feldman explains the instructive problems posed by the case of captured Somali terrorist Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame.

As part of Under Suspicion, a Washington Post series on the lives of American Muslims in the decade following 9/11, Eli Saslow examines the case of Abdirizak Bihi, a Somali-American Muslim activist at the helm of a community-based counterterror group in Minnesota.

Abigail Hauslohner of Time details the plight of Somali refugees in Yemen.

This briefing note, drawing on a meeting of a roundtable of experts held at Chatham House on 26 February 2009 by the Africa Programme and the International Law Discussion Group, clarifies some
of the legal concerns around combating piracy off the Somali coast.

Even as gunboats from across the globe move into their waters, the desperate, well-armed, and increasingly bold bandits of Somalia keep swarming the decks of the world's largest ships. They take what they want, they don't leave until the (higher and higher) ransoms are paid, and they won't stop until a modern-day war against piracy breaks out.

Forget Iran, Iraq, and North Korea--Bush's "Axis of Evil." As economic calamity meets political and social turmoil, the world's worst problems may come from countries like Somalia, Russia, and Mexico. And they're just the beginning, says Niall Ferguson.

Jeffrey Gettleman describes Somalia's chaos based on his own experiences there over the last two and a half years as a reporter.

Ken Menkhaus says the new U.S. national security team must implement a long-term strategy in Somalia.

International coordination is key to countering modern-day freebooters, say James Kraska and Brian Wilson.

This is a brief on the piracy issue in Somalia.

In an interview with Newsweek's Jason McLure, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi discusses Ethiopia's exit plan, its archenemy Eritrea, and its alliance with the United States.

Ever since Ethiopian armed forces removed the Islamic Courts movement from control of south-central Somalia in December 2006, Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, has been the scene of growing urban warfare. In March-April 2007 Ethiopian and Somali government forces joined battle with a coalition of insurgent groups composed of Islamic Courts supporters, clan militia, and others opposed to the Ethiopian presence in Somalia. Residents of Mogadishu were trapped by a terrifying escalation of violence that killed hundreds of civilians, provoked almost 400,000 people to flee the city, and shattered the lives, homes, and livelihoods of thousands of families. Shell-Shocked: Civilians Under Siege in Mogadishu, based upon on-the-ground research soon after the fighting, presents the first detailed account of civilian suffering during the conflict and violations of the laws of war.

A Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report for Congress (PDF)entitled "Somalia: Current Conditions and Prospects for a Lasting Peace."