On Sept. 20, 2013, the world watched the gruesome ordeal unfold in Kenya as a platoon of terrorists from the Somali militia group al-Shabab stormed the Westgate Mall in a posh neighborhood in the capital of Nairobi. As of today, nearly 70 people have been confirmed dead in the four-day siege and the death toll is […]
Just as the temperature of the “security threat” slowly declines in Somalia, it rises in other parts of East Africa. Elements of mainly political, religious, and clan/ethnic nature continue to shift and create new volatile conditions. Though not entirely interdependent, these conditions could create a ripple effect across different borders. Depending on one’s purview, […]
“Resilience” has become something of a buzzword in development policy circles lately. U.N. agencies are holding consultations, white papers are being written and policies are being drafted. Resilience has taken on special importance as it relates to two recent food crises in Africa, one in the Horn and one in the Sahel. So, what is […]
If constitutions are supposed to make boundaries of the government’s legitimate authority over its citizens and state or regional administrations clear, Somalia’s new constitution oddly falls short. While there are some bright provisions in the new constitution, much of it can be aptly described as uncertain assurances and a “not now” legal document! However, one […]
Internally—where it matters the most—the overall status of a government is judged by how the average citizen perceives it. From that perspective, and due to a number of factors, in Somalia not much has changed in the past three decades since the military government went astray. Still, the average Somali sees his/her government as the […]
For a number of years, Nairobi (Kenya) has been the de facto capital of Somalia after the State has disintegrated into anarchy. It has been where Somalis sought refuge, re-started their lives, and networked with the rest of the world. By the same token, it has been where almost all of the eighteen or so […]
For the past 8 months, Yemen has been thrown into the midst of a popular uprising of such intensity that it has left its governmental institutions in tatters and its economy in ruins. Enthralled in a fight against alleged Islamic militants in the south and a tribal war in the north, Yemen has had to […]
As the civil war in Libya dominates news headlines this week, the State Department reminds us that U.S. efforts to fight famine in the Horn of Africa continue even as the media focus has shifted away. How is the U.S. responding to the famine crisis? Secretary Clinton explained the U.S. response in remarks to the […]
There are so many events competing for our attention right now, there’s the debt crisis, the Norway attacks and a foiled attack here at home, it’s easy to get distracted. There’s another event unfolding in Africa, a humanitarian tragedy brought on by the perfect storm of drought and civil war. Even amid all the other […]
Last week the UN declared a famine in two regions of Southern Somalia and warned that it could spread to other parts of the Horn of Africa. That is a big deal. As Mark Leon Goldberg of UN Dispatch pointed out, a famine is a technical finding based or mortality, malnutrition and water consumption; they […]