2006, ISBN: 9781905068500

In the lead theme, we focus on Somalia, a failed state, posing a number of fundamental questions: why did Somalia fail as a state? Should the failed state be reconstituted as one nation o… Plus…

In the lead theme, we focus on Somalia, a failed state, posing a number of fundamental questions: why did Somalia fail as a state? Should the failed state be reconstituted as one nation or should different nations be allowed to emerge from the ashes of the collapsed state? What are the challenges facing the state reconstitution efforts? And what are the implications of all these for the current democracy and development projects in Africa? Abdinur S. Mohamud, an education consultant In the lead theme, we focus on Somalia, a failed state, posing a number of fundamental questions: why did Somalia fail as a state? Should the failed state be reconstituted as one nation or should different nations be allowed to emerge from the ashes of the collapsed state? What are the challenges facing the state reconstitution efforts? And what are the implications of all these for the current democracy and development projects in Africa? Abdinur S. Mohamud, an education consultant with the Ohio Department of Education, Columbus, Ohio, USA, and Abdi M. Kusow, a lecturer in political sociology at Oakland University in Michigan, trace the history of the failure of the state in Somalia, arguing that "the dissolution of the nation-state in Somalia had its roots in the conflict between Ethiopia and Somalia which started during the early years of Islam in the Horn". Mohamed H. Mukhtar, a Somali Professor of African and Middle Eastern History at Savannah State University Savannah, Georgia, U.S.A. discusses the various conferences to reconcile the various warring factions, clans and warlords in the Somali imbroglio, noting that most of the conferences adopted same modus operandi, with each starting with great expectations and hopes but eventually achieving very little, if anything at all Abdurahman Moallim Abdullahi (Badiyow), a peace activist, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mogadishu University, discusses the role of the Islamic factor in recovering the Somali state, noting that although officially the Somali state collapsed on July 1 1991, "scholars of Somalia disagree on what it was that really collapsed in Somalia in 1991", making the challenge of reconstituting the state even more arduous. Abdulkadir Osman Farah of the Centre for Development and International Relations, Aalborg University Denmark, discusses the political options for Somalia, noting that three main groups compete for political power in Somalia - an alliance of traditional Books, Social Sciences~~Ethnic Studies~~African American Studies, African-Renaissance-Sept-Oct-2006~~Jideofor-Patrick-Adibe, 999999999, African Renaissance, Sept/Oct 2006, Jideofor Patrick Adibe (Editor), 1905068506, Adonis & Abbey Publishers, , , , , Adonis & Abbey Publishers<