Wars in the Horn of Africa and the dismantling of the Somali State

Somalia was an artificial colonial construct and had no depth of state formation. Although supposedly homogenous, its clan families operate as independent entities and the reality of any Somali commitment to a single state must be questioned. Under the stresses of military defeat against Ethiopia, a...

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Main Author: Patrick Gilkes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Instituto Universitário de Lisboa 2002-06-01
Series:Cadernos de Estudos Africanos
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/cea/1280
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spelling doaj-620733765a7e48ebbac7e56acd539b312020-11-25T00:05:03ZengInstituto Universitário de LisboaCadernos de Estudos Africanos1645-37942002-06-0128910210.4000/cea.1280Wars in the Horn of Africa and the dismantling of the Somali StatePatrick GilkesSomalia was an artificial colonial construct and had no depth of state formation. Although supposedly homogenous, its clan families operate as independent entities and the reality of any Somali commitment to a single state must be questioned. Under the stresses of military defeat against Ethiopia, and a failed socialist revolution, and the resurrection of «clanism», it fell apart in the late 1980s. Subsequent international efforts to rebuild the state of Somalia have failed because the international community has ignored the realities of Somalia clan politics. The only area to succeed in restoring political structures is Somaliland, basing itself upon one particular clan family; its attempts have rejected internationally, despite having provided a clear, and successful, model for the rest of Somalia.http://journals.openedition.org/cea/1280conflictstate formationSomalia
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Patrick Gilkes
spellingShingle Patrick Gilkes
Wars in the Horn of Africa and the dismantling of the Somali State
Cadernos de Estudos Africanos
conflict
state formation
Somalia
author_facet Patrick Gilkes
author_sort Patrick Gilkes
title Wars in the Horn of Africa and the dismantling of the Somali State
title_short Wars in the Horn of Africa and the dismantling of the Somali State
title_full Wars in the Horn of Africa and the dismantling of the Somali State
title_fullStr Wars in the Horn of Africa and the dismantling of the Somali State
title_full_unstemmed Wars in the Horn of Africa and the dismantling of the Somali State
title_sort wars in the horn of africa and the dismantling of the somali state
publisher Instituto Universitário de Lisboa
series Cadernos de Estudos Africanos
issn 1645-3794
publishDate 2002-06-01
description Somalia was an artificial colonial construct and had no depth of state formation. Although supposedly homogenous, its clan families operate as independent entities and the reality of any Somali commitment to a single state must be questioned. Under the stresses of military defeat against Ethiopia, and a failed socialist revolution, and the resurrection of «clanism», it fell apart in the late 1980s. Subsequent international efforts to rebuild the state of Somalia have failed because the international community has ignored the realities of Somalia clan politics. The only area to succeed in restoring political structures is Somaliland, basing itself upon one particular clan family; its attempts have rejected internationally, despite having provided a clear, and successful, model for the rest of Somalia.
topic conflict
state formation
Somalia
url http://journals.openedition.org/cea/1280
work_keys_str_mv AT patrickgilkes warsinthehornofafricaandthedismantlingofthesomalistate
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