Somali National Army trainee officers.
Photo by Amaury Falt-Brown/AFP via Getty Images
Without the AU Transition Mission, the Somali army should prepare to face several hundred additional attacks each year.
Local fishermen’s boats moor at Somaliland’s Berbera port.
Mustafa Saeed/AFP via Getty Images
If the international reactions are anything to go by, Ethiopia’s Red Sea port deal is easier said than done.
Berbera port consumes a lot of energy while most city dwellers lack affordable electricity.
ED RAM/AFP via Getty Images
Berbera’s plans for development, including modernisation of its seaport and airport, as well as the special economic zone, all depend on availability and affordability of energy.
Abdurashid Abdulle Abikar/AFP via GettyImages
It’s likely that the terrorist group will be defeated one day. But there are no signs that the political elite is capable of changing.
A Somali soldier looks out from a military base where a US special operations soldier was killed by a mortar attack south of Mogadishu in 2018.
Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP via Getty Images
Al-Shabaab remains a strong regional actor and has proved itself to be a resilient force. It’s time to weigh a non-war strategic option
Bosaso has become a major export hub since security improved in Somalia’s Puntland region.
Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP via Getty Images
A modern port raises Puntland’s stake within the fragmented political landscape of Somalia and prevents traders from seeking alternatives.
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (centre) is hosted in Cairo by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in June, 2022.
Egyptian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Ethiopia’s direct engagement with Somalia’s regional governments will likely weaken the prospects of restoring a functioning Somali state.
Different types of property relations shape the living conditions of residents in marginalised urban settlements of Hargeisa. EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP via
Getty Images
Many urban residents live in dire poverty, lack shelter, and have limited access to basic services.
Clan elders gather in Belet Weyne, Somalia’s fifth largest city, for a weekly meeting to discuss various issues affecting their region.
Flickr-AU UN IST Photo / Tobin Jones
Somalia’s big test will be how to marry the social power of the clan system with a democratic future.
US Navy sailors for the Combined Joint Task Force in the Horn of Africa off the coast of Djibouti.
Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images
The decision to redeploy in Somalia represents a renewed emphasis on the old rivalry with Russia.
US troops in Djibouti in 2003 on a mission to watch terrorist groups in countries that include Somalia.
Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images
The core obstacle to stability in Somalia is the lack of agreement among political, religious, and business elites on how to govern their country.
President of the Federal Republic of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud during a 2014 media briefing.
Isaac Kasamani/AFP via Getty Images
President Mohamud’s main challenge is to restore security in the capital Mogadishu and elsewhere.
A policeman marches with a Somali flag during a parade in the capital Mogadishu.
Jose Cendon/AFP via Getty Images
Whoever wins the presidential election will inherit a host of challenges that have persistently tormented previous Somali leaders.
Somaliland’s newfound strategic importance has been both a gift and a curse.
GettyImages
The recent flurry of developments is just the world catching up to the reality of Somaliland.
The grand designs of the major political and military actors lack an important ingredient: the views and the hopes of ordinary Somalis.
Getty Images
The political and security order which numerous foreign actors have been investing in has produced marginal benefits for the population.
Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, president of Somalia, attends a regional meeting in Ethiopia in 2019.
Minasse Wondimu Hailu/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Although polarising, parliament’s move to extend Farmaajo’s term has presented a practical road-map to hold direct elections for the first time since 1969.
Muslim women and children in Lamu in north east Kenya. Al-Shabaab’s recruitment of female members is most evident in coastal and north eastern counties.
Photo by Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis via Getty Images
Women’s motivations for joining terrorist networks belie Kenyan media accounts of naive girls manipulated through romantic notions of Jihadi brides or wives.
Ali Mohamed Gedi (left), then Somali prime minister, speaks during a meeting with clan elders to discuss the surrender of weapons from the Mogadishu community in 2006.
Peter Delarue/AFP via Getty Images
While the insurgent group rebuffs talks on the national stage, it frequently negotiates local issues with the government and other groups through senior clan elders.
A military drone replica is displayed in front of the White House during a protest against drone strikes on January 12, 2019 in Washington, DC.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
In spite of a massive military effort the war against al-Shabaab has been effectively stalemated since 2016.
Hundreds gather for prayer at the scene of a massive truck bomb attack in Mogadishu in October 2017, the deadliest to hit conflict-torn Somalia.
The death of Al-Shabaab’s leader triggered deadlier suicide bombings as the group desperately tried to demonstrate its resilience.