Search

Begin New Search Political Geography Somalia

111. State-building in Puntland, Somalia: Urban taxation and claims making in Garoowe, Puntland

Author:
Kirstine Strøh Varming
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
In a new DIIS Working Paper, ‘The experiential limits of the state: territory and taxation in Garoowe, Puntland’, anthropologist Kirstine Strøh Varming from Roskilde University provides the reader with unique insights into everyday state formation in northeastern Somalia. Based on extensive fieldwork in Puntland’s capital Garoowe this paper highlights how new taxes and attempts to manage urban space contribute to the constitution of state authority. Garoowe Municipality’s efforts to collect a parking tax and to regulate the city’s multiple gas stations trigger both acceptance and rejection of state interventions in the context of a growing Puntland national identity. Both the potentials and limits of state authority become visible in this case study. This DIIS Working Paper is part of the GOVSEA PAPER SERIES (Governing Economic Hubs and Flows in Somali East Africa) edited by Tobias Hagmann and Finn Stepputat.
Topic:
Governance, State Formation, Tax Systems, Urban, State Building, and Identity
Political Geography:
Somalia and Puntland

112. Sweet secrets in the Horn of Africa: Sugar and politics in the Kenya-Somalia borderlands

Author:
Jacob Rasmussen
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
A new DIIS Working Paper entitled ‘Sweet secrets: sugar smuggling and state formation in the Kenya-Somalia borderlands’ explores the role of Somali militants and the Kenyan army, bureaucrats, politicians, businessmen and truck drivers in the lucrative but dangerous smuggling of sugar between Somalia and Kenya. Jacob Rasmussen, an anthropologist and Associate Professor at Roskilde University, highlights the many vested interests in sugar smuggling in northern Kenya. Sugar smuggling is a ‘sweet secret’ that is publicly known in Kenya, but cannot openly be talked about. It is part of illicit trade networks that not only span the Horn of Africa region, but go hand in hand with state formation dynamics in Kenya. This DIIS Working Paper is part of the GOVSEA PAPER SERIES (Governing Economic Hubs and Flows in Somali East Africa) edited by Tobias Hagmann and Finn Stepputat.
Topic:
State Formation, Borders, Smuggling, and Sugar
Political Geography:
Kenya, Somalia, and Horn of Africa

113. Bringing the sea back in: Towards a port-centric view of the Somali economy

Author:
Jatin Dua
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Much of the existing scholarship on the Somali peninsula is informed by territorialized assumptions focusing on pastoralism or overland trading. In this working paper Jaitin Dua, an anthropologist and assistant professor at the University of Michigan, proposes a ‘maritime’ view on the Somali economy that highlights the role of ships, ports and seas. Comparing the three port cities of Benderbeyla, Bosaso and Djibouti the author provides insights into the nexus between violent capture, regulation and sovereignty across the Somali territories. What emerges are different modes of port-making that are closely related to global circulation. By bringing the sea back into Somali studies and contemporary anthropology, Dua offers an innovative interpretation of state formation dynamics. This DIIS Working Paper is part of the GOVSEA PAPER SERIES (Governing Economic Hubs and Flows in Somali East Africa) edited by Tobias Hagmann and Finn Stepputat
Topic:
Piracy, Economy, State Formation, Maritime, and Port
Political Geography:
Africa and Somalia

114. The Human Cost of Uncontrolled Arms in Africa: Cross-national research on seven African countries

Author:
Adesoji Adeniyi
Publication Date:
03-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Prolonged conflict, proxy wars, and inter-communal strife characterize many regions in Africa. This violence has caused untold atrocities, deaths, sexual violence, and displacement, as well as accelerating poverty and shattering lives and communities across the continent. Uncontrolled arms in Africa fuel this violence and are increasingly putting lives at immense risk. This report provides evidence about the human costs of uncontrolled arms: injuries and fatalities, internally displaced people and refugees, gender-based violence, and erosion of social cohesion and communal trust. Covering Mali, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Libya, it provides arms control recommendations to African states, the African Union and Regional Economic Communities, donor communities, and the private sector.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Refugees, Arms Trade, Conflict, Violence, Proxy War, and African Union
Political Geography:
Africa, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Mali, South Sudan, Central African Republic, and Democratic Republic of Congo

115. On the Brink: As Famine Looms, World Leaders Must Say Up and Deliver Political Solutions to Save Lives

Author:
Shannon Scribner
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
As famine takes hold in South Sudan and threatens to spread to northeastern Nigeria, Somalia, and Yemen, world leaders must immediately step up to fully fund the United Nations’ appeal for $6.3 billion. Of this amount, $4.9 billion is urgently needed by July for critical assistance, including health, food, nutrition, and water. If lives are to be saved, humanitarian agencies must be able to rapidly scale up and access people in need. World leaders must not walk away from key meetings, such as the Group of Seven Taormina Summit in Italy and the Group of Twenty Hamburg Summit in Germany, without taking action to increase funding, improve access, resolve conflict and insecurity, and ensure that emergency relief is coupled with long-term approaches to building resilience in affected countries.
Topic:
International Cooperation, United Nations, Famine, Food Security, and Leadership
Political Geography:
Africa, Middle East, Yemen, Nigeria, Somalia, and South Sudan

116. From Early Warning to Early Action in Somalia: What can we Learn to Support Early Action to Mitigate Humanitarian Crises?

Author:
Emma Feeny
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
More than three years after it was initiated in the aftermath of the 2011 famine, the early-warning, early-action trigger mechanism for Somalia remains a work in progress. This paper looks at how the mechanism has functioned during the 2016/7 drought crisis response, uncovers a widespread consensus about the value of the tool, and explores the challenges involved in developing the dashboard, generating support and putting in place an accountability framework. It looks for learning around the effectiveness of such tools, which could potentially support similar models in other countries. This paper also highlights suggestions from a range of stakeholders regarding actions that might support greater buy-in to the dashboard and broader collaboration at all levels, helping ensure the mechanism meets its aim of facilitating decision making for early action, thereby better protecting the people of Somalia.
Topic:
Human Rights, Famine, Humanitarian Crisis, and Disaster Management
Political Geography:
Somalia and Africa

117. Being Peacekept? The Implicit Assumptions that Hamper the Protection of Civilians

Author:
Niels Nagelhus Schia and Benjamin de Carvalho
Publication Date:
12-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
Protection of Civilians (PoC) has during the last decade evolved to become an important guideline for international actors in post-conflict and conflict affected societies. While much policy literature has been written on how to better implement the PoC framework, less has been written on the conceptual framework of the protection of civilians and how this fits with local contexts, networks and relationships. Drawing on recent research and empirical material from Afghanistan, Somalia, Liberia, Sudan, Uganda and Colombia this policy brief identifies five implicit assumptions underpinning the Protection of Civilians as conceptualized in the Aide Memoire and UN Security Council resolutions. Through these assumptions we analyze how a skewed conceptual platform for protection implementers paradoxically disconnects protection needs.
Topic:
International Affairs, Peacekeeping, Conflict, and Civilians
Political Geography:
Uganda, Afghanistan, Sudan, Colombia, Liberia, and Somalia

118. Towards a Continental Strategy for Countering Violent Extremism in Africa

Author:
Tarek A. Sharif and Joanne Richards
Publication Date:
12-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Peace Operations Review
Abstract:
Violent Extremism is now recognized as a growing threat to peace and security in Africa, as exemplified by the recent terrorist attacks in Garissa, Abidjan, and Ouagadougou. While much of the policy discussion on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) focuses on the return of radicalized foreign fighters to the West, less attention is directed to those foreign fighters who may eventually return from Iraq, Syria, and Libya to other areas of North Africa, the Maghreb, and the Horn of Africa. Tunisia is one of the world’s largest contributors to the Islamic State in terms of foreign fighters, with smaller contributions from Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Sudan and Somalia. Issues concerning the return of foreign fighters to Africa are particularly salient not only because these individuals may return to their communities, but also because they may link up with other extremist armed groups present across the continent. These include groups affiliated to either al-Qaeda or the Islamic State, such as Boko Haram, al-Shabaab, and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Attempts to counter violent extremism began in Europe in the 1980s with the advent of programs to dissuade and disengage right-wing extremists in Norway, Sweden and Germany. Although no common definition exists, since that time CVE has come to be associated with a range of measures designed to prevent and reverse the radicalization of individuals and groups, and to forestall the participation of these groups and “lone wolves” in acts of terrorism. Given that CVE is preventative and reactive, different CVE strategies are necessary for different stages of the radicalization continuum, including for individuals and communities with no exposure to extremist networks, those with some exposure, and those already radicalized. The latter is often associated with attempts to shift extremists towards acceptance of more moderate ideologies and is known as “deradicalization.” In some ways, CVE is difficult to distinguish from conventional counter-terrorism, which often includes traditional military measures and the sharing of intelligence between nation states. However, because conventional counter-terrorism does not address the root causes prompting radicalization, policy interventions under the rubric of CVE have more recently been designed to focus attention on the grassroots factors, which may render certain individuals more susceptible to radicalization than others. Social exclusion, poverty, and a lack of education are often named as typical contenders in this regard, although CVE practitioners generally acknowledge that no single causal pathway to radicalization can be identified. Reflecting these general trends, this essay charts the development of African Union policy, from its roots in conventional counter-terrorism, to efforts to devise a continental strategy for CVE in Africa. It also outlines a number of policy measures, which any such continental strategy should take into account.
Topic:
Security, Violent Extremism, Counter-terrorism, and African Union
Political Geography:
Africa, Iraq, Sudan, Middle East, Libya, Syria, Morocco, and Somalia

119. Journal of Advanced Military Studies: International Relations Perspectives

Author:
Robert Nalbandov, M.J. Fox, Jacob Stoil, Jonathan Schroden, William Rosenau, Emily Warner, and Rebecca Yagerman
Publication Date:
09-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Advanced Military Studies
Institution:
Marine Corps University Press, National Defense University
Abstract:
During the planning for this and upcoming issues, the staff of the MCU Journal, under the direction of the new editorial board, continues fine tuning our publication strategies to acquire content that speaks to the larger issues of policy important to the Marine Corps, generally and specifically. This has led us to seek authors who can provide more than just single threads of continuity, but rather to help us craft entire issues that focus on defined topics for deeper-level conversations. To that end, the closing issue of 2016 presents what, on the surface, may appear to be five articles speaking broadly to the concerns of one region, in this case the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Upon further reading, however, the reader will discover that this issue features two distinct sections that illustrate both political science and historical perspectives relevant to the U.S. military Services and the larger Department of Defense community.
Topic:
International Relations, Diplomacy, Politics, Terrorism, Violent Extremism, Counter-terrorism, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Africa, Middle East, Libya, North Africa, North America, Tunisia, Somalia, and United States of America

120. Expert Opinion on AMISOM Contributing Countries Continued Provision of Troops

Author:
David Mastro
Publication Date:
10-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The international community is beginning to grapple with several questions regarding whether one or more countries contributing troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM)—which has been key to successes against al-Shabaab in recent years—will prematurely withdraw their troops from the mission due a confluence of regional and international factors.1 What is the likelihood that one or more troops contributing countries (TCCs)—Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda—withdraw from AMISOM? How would AMISOM’s operational effectiveness be impacted if a TCC left the mission? Would another country or countries be willing and able to fill the void created by a TCC’s withdrawal? This paper attempts to provide answers to these questions to inform policy discussions related to the long-term commitment of the TCCs to the mission. It also seeks to provide some actions or policies that the international community could undertake to reduce the likelihood that a TCC leaves AMISOM early.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Affairs, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Somalia