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Since 1991, Somalia has between plunged into an ongoing civil war between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) backed by the UN and international supporters, and an Islamist militia called 'al Shabaab'. The war has ravaged the country's economy, led to the disjunction of Somalia's breakaway northern stretch called Somaliland, and led to a humanitarian, social and political crisis of epic proportions. While Somaliland remains poor but peaceful under a fledgling government, the larger, southern strip of Somalia remains lawless, virulently violent and strife-torn. The vast Indian ocean, that provides one of the few remaining sources of livelihood to a people deprived of stable government, sustenance and/or peaceful normalcy for nearly two decades, remains wracked with infested piracy notorious for targeting international maritime traffic, including 320,000 tonne Saudi supertankers and Ukrainian arms transports.
If it were possible to imagine, the interior remains even more volatile, with jihadists of the al Shabaab militia having been accused of the most debased human rights-violations, indiscriminate targetting of civilians, kidnapping for ransom and murder, and inland Somalia serving as a thriving base for pirate activity.
What are the obligations of the international community, in particular of neighbouring states like Ethiopia and Eritrea, the universal hegemon America, and of other regional powers like Russia, China and India to this impending catastrophe? What military and/or doctrinal strategies might be suggested for the troops of the TFG to recapture the remnant of the other 11 districts out of a total of 18 currently under al-Shabaab control (from a mere 7)? What efforts might be directed towards protecting international maritime traffic traversing through the region? What are the prospects and the measures to be undertaken for lasting peace in Somalia, especially since, following the withdrawal of Ethiopian Forces in 2009, the insurgency has not abated?
YouTube - Somalia: caught in the war of Mogadishu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnUmlW3o9Hc&feature=channel_page
If it were possible to imagine, the interior remains even more volatile, with jihadists of the al Shabaab militia having been accused of the most debased human rights-violations, indiscriminate targetting of civilians, kidnapping for ransom and murder, and inland Somalia serving as a thriving base for pirate activity.
What are the obligations of the international community, in particular of neighbouring states like Ethiopia and Eritrea, the universal hegemon America, and of other regional powers like Russia, China and India to this impending catastrophe? What military and/or doctrinal strategies might be suggested for the troops of the TFG to recapture the remnant of the other 11 districts out of a total of 18 currently under al-Shabaab control (from a mere 7)? What efforts might be directed towards protecting international maritime traffic traversing through the region? What are the prospects and the measures to be undertaken for lasting peace in Somalia, especially since, following the withdrawal of Ethiopian Forces in 2009, the insurgency has not abated?
YouTube - Somalia: caught in the war of Mogadishu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnUmlW3o9Hc&feature=channel_page
