Understanding the Somalia Conflagration (2010) by Afyare Abdi Elmi: identity, political Islam and peacebuilding

The book

Understanding the Somalia Conflagration: Identity, Political Islam and Peacebuilding is by Afyare Abdi Elmi, a Somali political scientist. It was published by Pluto Press in London in 2010, with about 200 pages (African Studies Review listing; Kenny's). The publisher presents it as an explanation of the many dimensions of the conflict, arguing that peace can begin only by addressing the absence of a state (Kenny's).

Its main arguments

The reviewer Abdirahman A. Issa summarises the book's arguments as follows (WardheerNews):

• Clan identity. Clan is not the root problem in itself; politicians mobilise it to gain resources and power. Because ignoring clan has not worked, it has to be addressed openly. Elmi proposes sharing parliamentary seats by clan while filling cabinet and civil service posts on merit. See Clans and lineage.
• Political Islam. Islam and clan have been the two competing sources of identity since 1991. Islamist movements gained ground after the collapse of the state, and the Islamic Courts Union briefly brought order to much of the south in 2006. See The Islamic Courts Union, 2006.
• Federalism and neighbours. Elmi argues that the federal system was introduced without a national debate or referendum, and that Ethiopia and, to a lesser degree, Kenya undermined reconciliation conferences.
• United States policy. He criticises US policy, from support for the military government to the period after September 2001 and backing for Ethiopia's intervention in 2006.
• Peacebuilding. He proposes education to build a shared national identity, including an inclusive curriculum and peace education, the use of poets and other informal means, and, in the short term, an international force.

How it was received

• Abdirahman A. Issa called it "well written and well researched" and a "synoptic and concise introduction" suitable for students. He argued that it overlooked genuine local demand for federalism in parts of the country, including Puntland, said little about Somaliland and Puntland, and did not examine the mistakes of the Islamist leadership (WardheerNews).
• The Egyptian economist Samir Amin, in the Africa Review of Books, praised its documentation of the actors in the conflict and disagreed with how it described the different periods of the Siad Barre government (Africa Review of Books).
• Terrence Lyons of George Mason University reviewed it in African Studies Review.

Where to read it

• Lending copy: Internet Archive
• In a library: WorldCat

Related pages

• Al-Shabaab in Somalia (2013), Stig Jarle Hansen
• Islamist movements and transitional governments, 2000 to 2012