Somalia

Somali pirates have been resilient against efforts to stop them, but a new approach that includes legal measures, controlling financial flows, building regional capacity and more could be the combination that defeats piracy, writes CFR’s Michael Lyon Baker.

A global naval coalition has failed to halt Somali-based piracy. More effective would be a broader approach to maritime policing that integrates African authorities, writes CFR’s Michael L. Baker.

This publication is now archived. A Condensed HistorySomalia was created in 1960 by the merger of British Somaliland Protectorate and the colony of Italian Somaliland. The United Republic of Somalia …

Instead of fighting jihad in Somalia by supporting the weak transitional government, the United States would have more success focusing on humanitarian aid and development, says democracy and governance expert Bronwyn Bruton.

The Christmas bomb attempt on a Detroit-bound plane has raised new concerns about "ungoverned spaces." But CFR’s Stewart Patrick argues that the term fails to address the real security concerns presented by nations like Yemen.

CFR’s Bronwyn Bruton says the U.S.-Ethiopia security partnership is undermining U.S. counterterror goals in Somalia. If the United States hopes to play a constructive role in Somalia, it must address democracy backsliding in Ethiopia, she says.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s seven-nation trip to Africa will highlight U.S. security concerns from Somalia to Nigeria and expand on efforts to engage leading African states on governance and trade issues.

CFR’s Bronwyn Bruton says the United States will not be able to end piracy in Somalia by using force and should take a modest approach that avoids grand schemes to reconstruct the government.

Though international observers had hoped Somalia’s transitional federal government would bring stability to the war-torn nation after sixteen years of “failed state” status, by mid-2008 experts said it was fraught by internal divisions.

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.