Somalia: Change Coming?

By Abukar Arman

Abukar Arman is the former Somalia Special Envoy to the United States. He is an international affairs analyst who writes for Foreign Policy Association.

Since Somalia’s independence in 1960, its relationship with the U.S. has been—for lack of a better metaphor—on a roller coaster that travels up and down dangerous steeps and performs sudden inversions that turn everything upside down. In other words, due to lack of formal and sustainable policy toward Somalia, the U.S. has contributed to creating the thrill-seekers’ paradise by setting aside diplomacy and soft engagement to chase terrorists. For the past decade or so, counterterrorism has been the name of the game, as both Somalia and the U.S. struggle to reshuffle their allies and redefine their strategic interests.

In 2006, in partnership with the most ruthless warlords in Somalia, the CIA funded a covert campaign that ultimately backfired on the George W. Bush Administration. In Operation Dung Beetle, the CIA commissioned cold-blooded warlords to help decapitate Islamic Courts—a coalition of clan-based “sharia courts” formed to fill the vacuum created by anarchy and provide semblance of law and order. This was followed by U.S. support for the Ethiopian invasion and occupation (2007-2009). In 2010, the U.S. then rolled out yet another self-defeating policy, known as dual-track.

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