Globalizing Somalia: Multilateral, international, and transnational repercussions of conflict

Description

This collection of essays demonstrates how chronic state failure and the inability of the international community to provide a solution to the conflict in Somalia has had transnational repercussions. Following the failed humanitarian mission in 1992-93, most countries refrained from any direct involvement in Somalia, but this changed in the 2000s with the growth of piracy and links to international terrorist organizations. The deterritorialization of the conflict quickly became apparent as it became transnational in nature. In part because of it lacked a government and was unable to work with the international community, Somalia came to be seen as a "testing-ground" by many international actors. Globalizing Somalia demonstrates how China, Japan, and the EU, among others, have all used the conflict in Somalia to project power, test the bounds of the national constitution, and test their own military capabilities. Contributed by international scholars and experts, the work examines the impact of globalization on the internal and external dynamics of the conflict, arguing that it is no longer geographically contained. By bringing together the many actors and issues involved, the book fills a gap in the literature as one of the most complete works on the conflict in Somalia to date. It will be an essential text to any student interested in Somalia and the horn of Africa, as well as in terrorism, and conflict processes. Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgments Contributors Abbreviations List of figure and tables Introduction Somalia Key concepts Book outline A final thought Notes Section 1 The failure of the international 1 The United Nations, peacekeeping, and the globalization of the conflict in Somalia Introduction Background to conflict The United Nations in Somalia Challenges to sovereignty, nonintervention, and consent Aid and the globalization of the conflict Failures and lessons to be learned Conclusion Notes 2 Contextual disconnect: The failure of the “international community” in Somalia Introduction—learning to carry your own baggage Social modes of mobilization in Somalia Missing the point—international engagement with Somalia Brokering a peace the Somali way—aggregate social pressures and consensus Stone by stone—options and reflections Notes Section 2 The rise of the transnational 3 Is all jihad local? Transnational contention and political violence in Somalia Global and local forces in contemporary political violence Transnational contention and the alteration of local conflict Case study: Al Shabaab and the conflict in Somalia Transnationalization and the African Union mission to Somalia The transnationalization of the conflict in Somalia: Conclusions and implications Notes 4 Involving foreign fighters in Somalia Examining foreign fighters Background to recruitment Emergence of radical Islamism in Somalia Al-Qaeda connections Recruitment of foreign fighters The experience of foreign recruits in the field Training and indoctrination methods Influence on Al Shabaab operations Outside of Somalia Conclusions: Somalia as part of the foreign fighter trend Who becomes a foreign fighter? Recruitment as defensive mobilization Innovative use of foreign fighters Implications for the future of the conflict Notes 5 Somali piracy and international crime Challenges: Globalization’s impact on Somalia’s coastal communities Responses: Somali piracy’s impact on the maritime transport sector Consequences: “From the sea, to the shores” in a new setting Conclusion: Where next? Notes Section 3 The new multipolar politics as a response to transnational disorder 6 Recrossing the Mogadishu line: US policy toward Somalia 1994–2012 Introduction History of US–Somalia relations US policy toward Somalia 2001–12 The rise of ICU and Al Shabaab Somali involvement in Al-Qaeda Piracy in the Horn of Africa Limited US leverage Fighting dirty Conclusion Notes 7 Somalia–China relations: China claiming its place as a global actor? Introduction China–Somalia relations Supporting peace and security in Somalia AntiPiracy efforts Logic underlying China’s engagement in Somalia Conclusion Notes 8 Japan’s aspirations as a global security actor: The antipiracy mission off Somalia and the dynamics of Great Power intervention Background to Japan–Somalia relations Japan’s decision to deploy: National and global interests Constitutional and operational constraints to Japanese deployments Assessing achievements Prospects and precedents for the Great Powers: Cooperation or competition? Strategic competition The need for cooperation Conclusion Notes 9 Opposing interests? The geopolitics of the Horn of Africa1 Introducing the geopolitics of the Horn The course of history? The Horn, on the periphery of Africa, and the Middle East The center versus the coast in the Somali civil war The AMISOM intervention in Somalia and the dynamics driving it A new game? The role of Yemen Conclusions and shifting paradigms Notes 10 The European Union comprehensive intervention in Somalia: Turning ploughs into swords? Key debates in EU foreign policy that spill over in Somalia The Europeanization of national foreign policies in Somalia through the case studies of the United Kingdom and France in Somalia The European ploughs in Somalia: A long-lasting quest for comprehensiveness and a progressive securitization A double-edged sword? Initiatives to improve security in the framework of the CSDP Conclusion Notes Section 4 Reimagining intervention—must history repeat itself in Somalia? 11 Identity, stability, and the Somali state: Indigenous forms and external interventions Lessons for a legitimate Somali state? State-Building: Paradoxes and foundations Customary bases for external intervention Defining the external actor Elders as mediators Women as “external” agents Non-Somali “outsiders” External intervention: Instances of success and failure Intervention gone wrong External successes Conclusion Notes 12 Conclusion Whose peace? Possibilities for peace? Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index