# Getting Somalia Wrong? (2012) by Mary Harper: faith, war and hope in a shattered state

> Mary Harper's Getting Somalia Wrong? (2012): its argument about the 'failed state' label, business and telecoms without a state, and how reviewers responded.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/books/getting-somalia-wrong-harper/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## The book

**Getting Somalia Wrong? Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State** is a book by **Mary Harper**, a BBC journalist and Africa editor, published by Zed Books in 2012 in the African Arguments series ([Powell's](https://www.powells.com/book/getting-somalia-wrong-9781842779330); [African Union Library](https://library.au.int/node/260570)). It is not a chronological history but a set of chapters on themes that explain Somalia at the time ([African Arguments, Magnus Taylor](https://africanarguments.org/2012/01/getting-somalia-wrong-faith-war-and-hope-in-a-shattered-state-a-review-by-magnus-taylor/)).

## Its argument

- **Beyond the "failed state".** Harper argues that the label "failed state" misses what happens on the ground: without a central government, Somali businesses and local politics found ways to work and even grow ([How We Made It in Africa](https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/challenging-perceptions-about-somalia/19612/)).
- **Telecoms and trade.** She points to the telecoms sector, where Somalia became an early adopter of mobile phones ([How We Made It in Africa](https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/challenging-perceptions-about-somalia/19612/)). See also [Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/).
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).** Reviewers highlight her account of clan reconciliation and elected institutions in Somaliland ([African Arguments, Keith Somerville](https://africanarguments.org/2012/02/getting-somalia-wrong-signs-of-hope-in-a-shattered-state-a-realistic-but-empathetic-analysis-review-by-keith-somerville/)).
- **Security lens.** The publisher's description says she argues that viewing Somalia mainly through the prism of al-Qaeda risks further destabilising Somalia and the Horn of Africa ([Powell's](https://www.powells.com/book/getting-somalia-wrong-9781842779330)).
- **Intervention.** She treats the US and UN intervention of the 1990s as a central example of trying to build a state with foreign soldiers ([Peace News](https://peacenews.info/node/7076)).

## How it was received

Keith Somerville, reviewing for African Arguments, called it "a realistic but empathetic analysis" ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/2012/02/getting-somalia-wrong-signs-of-hope-in-a-shattered-state-a-realistic-but-empathetic-analysis-review-by-keith-somerville/)). A review in Peace News said that Harper does not discuss earlier US support for the [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) government in the 1980s ([Peace News](https://peacenews.info/node/7076)). Harper discussed the book on NPR in 2012 ([NPR](https://www.npr.org/transcripts/166162936)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/gettingsomaliawr0000harp)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Getting+Somalia+Wrong+Harper)

## Related pages

- [Books about Somalis since 2006](/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/)
- [Rebuilding, 2007 to 2012](/en/history/rebuilding-2007-2012/)

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