Community Perspectives Towards Al-Shabaab

This chapter discusses the results of key interviews with Somalis regarding their perceptions about Al-Shabaab. Respondents expressed concerns about Al-Shabaab's indiscriminate and excessive use of violence, which are considered inconsistent with Islam, and its restrictions on freedom of speech and movement. However, they spoke positively about Al-Shabaab's strict enforcement of rules and their impartial resolution of disputes. They also compared Al-Shabaab favourably to the government in terms of reducing clan influence over politics or the allocation of resources, and in terms of minimizing corruption in ‘tax’ collection, but noted the group's failure to provide social services. Three-quarters of respondents expressed support for a negotiated solution to the conflict, but doubted Al-Shabaab would be willing to engage.

Travelling for an Idea

This chapter considers Al-Shabaab's Western foreign fighters. Members of the Somali diaspora in the West were the major source of Al-Shabaab's Western foreign fighters. Previously, a considerable number of members of the diaspora joined or attempted to join Al-Shabaab (referred to as ‘travellers’), and while the group's attractiveness for potential travellers has waned, the risk remains that it could revive. The chapter suggests that alienation plays a role in radicalization, such that travellers' acceptance of Al-Shabaab's violently anti-Western rhetoric demonstrates they were not deeply assimilated into the mainstream values of their host countries. However, it was Al-Shabaab's ideology that primarily attracted travellers. Thus, governments must try to delegitimize Al-Shabaab's worldview while promoting the attractions of their own ways of life in order to ensure travellers will not again seek out Al-Shabaab in large numbers.

Anatomy of Counter-Jihad

This chapter considers how Al-Shabaab messaging can be best countered, drawing on field research in Mogadishu and Baidoa, focusing on the area of Bay/Bakool. It shows that lack of security, opportunity, and justice, combined with clan conflicts create conditions that Al-Shabaab can exploit. In Bay/Bakool, the group is seen as having semi-territorial control; in other words, a fairly regular presence despite intermittent deployments or patrols by forces of the Federal Government of Somalia and African Union Mission in Somalia. Thus, the involvement of sheikhs and clan elders is all the more important as they wield considerable influence in communities and can strengthen efforts of countering violent extremism (CVE). A wide, inclusive approach is recommended, drawing upon a combination of different types of religious leaders, in which Sufi, Shafi'i, and Quietist/non-political Wahhabism are represented.

From the Margins to the Centre

Using data collected from in-depth interviews with 13 Somali women, this chapter re-examines the dominant assumptions about women and peace-building. It explores how women's participation in peace-building manifests itself in Somali politics; identifies distinctive gender dimensions of peace-building; and explores the particular ways women negotiate and influence peace. It makes the case for a new recognition of women's roles in peace-building and argues that Somali women are already employing successful strategies to negotiate space within the political domain and build peace within their families and communities. As such, the chapter goes beyond the false dichotomy of formal/informal peace-building activities, and contends that the current narrative, which is based on simplistic explanations of women and politics, fails to take into account the historical context of women's agency and the vastly changing political and community dynamics that impact how women participate in peace-building.

Somali National Reconciliation

This chapter redefines the Somali conflict by refuting Somali exceptionalism and the approach based solely on clan. Instead, it argues that the genesis of hostilities is the state–society conflict that, as a consequence, has generated a violent power struggle among the political elite. In turn, this political elite power struggle has provoked political clannism and Islamism: the two indigenous ideologies. These conflicts have been generated sequentially as a result of state–society conflict, and must be addressed as part of a four-part process of reconciliation. The chapter also recommends a ten-point programme of reconciliation, which gradually realizes good governance practices and comprehensive elite and clan reconciliation. Moreover, it proposes a participatory approach and prudent synthesis of modernity and tradition.

Reconciliation in Somalia

Rivalries and tensions in Somalia exist on several levels: within and between Federal Member States (FMS); between FMS and the Federal Government of Somalia; and in the wider region. This chapter argues that reconciliation should be incorporated into all reform and state-building efforts, including initiatives that relate to decentralization, federalism, and the constitution. A comprehensive and inclusive framework for national reconciliation should be developed. Within this framework, there should be mechanisms to hold leaders accountable, including for past crimes, for which a truth and reconciliation commission should be established. The application of xeer has helped build peace in Somaliland and could play an important role in promoting national reconciliation.

Amisom

This chapter presents a brief review of the African Union Mission in Somalia's (AMISOM) origins, growth, and performance from a Somali peace-building and conflict transformation perspective. It also draws lessons for future international security cooperation as spelt out in the May 2017 New Partnership for Somalia. Employing a comparative contextual analysis approach, the chapter takes stock of AMISOM's intervention against some key objectives listed in its mandate and seeks to answer the question of how the conflict landscape in south-central Somalia has changed since the deployment of AMISOM. It asks whether AMISOM's multi-pronged strategy of complementing the dominant military approaches with support to the Federal Government of Somalia in reconciliation, dialogue, and peace-building has been successful. The chapter also examines AMISOM's military and non-military measures to catalyse progress towards the objective for which this mission was set in motion in 2007.

State-Building Amidst Conflict

This chapter discusses the correlation between bottom-up local reconciliation and state-building in Somalia. It identifies key conflict actors in three regional states, and postulates general trends in local conflicts and how to address them. Rather than promoting grassroots reconciliation between various sets of clans engaged in localized conflicts throughout south-central Somalia, the process of forming Federal Member States has intensified and, in some cases, revived conflicts over regional boundaries, land use, and political representation. The urgency to meet the New Deal benchmarks has led to what independent observers consider to be contentious and hasty state-formation. The 2013–17 period was marred by a surge in clan-based violence as discontent grew among those clans that felt they received an unfair deal.

Ending Impunity

Impunity in Somalia has become so deeply entrenched over the years that it has become the norm. Since the Siad Barre period (1969–1991), both local and foreign actors have repeatedly committed war crimes and other serious rights abuses that remain unaddressed to this day. This chapter explains why accountability is not only a human rights imperative, but a cornerstone of a more effective political strategy in Somalia. The chapter briefly reviews the main abuses and atrocities of the last 30 years; identifies the reasons why perpetrators have literally got away with murder; identifies the costs of continued impunity and inaction; and proposes a number of measures in view of a comprehensive strategy to foster both redress and accountability in Somalia.

Collaborating for Peace

In recent years, Somalia has witnessed an increasing range of activities involved in state-building and peace-building. The success of these efforts requires cooperation among and between national and international actors. This chapter assesses the forms, patterns, and levels of cooperation. The results suggest that networks remain sparsely connected and that a decentralized core of international organizations is surrounded by less connected national counterparts. African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) emerges as important to coordination among international actors; whereas the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and Federal Member States (FMS) emerge as central to networks of cooperation between international and national actors. Overall, the findings suggest that there is considerable scope and potential for greater cooperation among and between international and national actors. Increased collaboration could enhance the prospects for peace and reconciliation in Somalia, given that denser networks contribute to the flow of information, trust-building, and more effective problem-solving.