Article by Bella Wexler, illustration by Mallika Sunder

Located at the easternmost point of Africa and occupying significant coastal land, Somalia is of strategic interest for shipping across the Indian Ocean. This favorable position is what drew British, Italian and French forces to colonize Somali regions during the 19th century. By the end of the European scramble for Africa, this land was arbitrarily divided into 3 colonies referred to as British, Italian, and French Somaliland, respectively. It wasn’t until 1977 that the land France occupied gained official independence as the republic of Djibouti. As for Italy and Britain’s cuts, they gained official independence in the summer of 1960, at which point they elected to merge, forming the Somali Republic (Jansen 2021).

Although separating from the aforementioned European powers gave Somalia independence in name, the decades of external occupation and colonial redistribution of land heavily impacted the local culture, politics, and economy, making practical independence and domestic stability far from reach. 

In the Cold War era, authoritarian Mohamed Siad Barre seized power following the last president’s assassination. Siad immediately aligned himself with Communist allies and implemented a Marxist dictatorship. However, the stark clash of this system with traditional Somali clan loyalties, along with the Soviet Union’s eventual betrayal in support of Ethiopia led to the downfall of Siad’s regime. It was actually with Soviet aid that Ethiopia regained the Ogaden, a highly contested area of land that had been ceded by colonialists to Ethiopia in 1948 and later held by Somalia. A frantic outpouring of Somali refugees from the Ogaden over the border following Ethiopia’s reoccupation of the land triggered the rise of regional and clan-based guerrilla groups in Somalia who took down Siad’s regime in a full-fledged civil war. By the end of this war, Somalia was characterized as a violently decentralized “failed state” (Welle 2020).

In the 1990s, continued guerilla conflict had drastic agricultural consequences that wrought widespread famine on the people of Somalia (“HISTORY OF SOMALIA”). In the present day, Somali people continue to live in constant uncertainty while their country depends on international political intervention (like UN and US military assistance) and humanitarian aid (Sperber 2021). The prevalence of violent jihadist group, al-Shabab continues to undermine efforts to implement universal suffrage. Meanwhile, longstanding clan alignments have crippled the integrity of the national army which international forces have sought to strengthen in the name of stability. 

As is, Somalia is a fracturing nation whose past colonization exasperated cultural tensions and inhibited decades worth of political growth. After receiving ‘independence’, Somalia is still fundamentally reliant on outside forces to maintain some semblance of peace and stability. It is evident that the road to sustainable sovereignty will first require unprecedented political cooperation from forces within Somali borders as well as keen anti-terroristic support from global partners. Currently, the African Union has deployed 22,000 troops to Somalia to defend against al-Shabab. As for the UN, Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) spokesperson Dana Palade has assured donor countries “it will be essential that momentum is sustained once an agreement is reached” in response to the Farmajo administration’s recent abuses of power (Sperber 2021). 

At the end of the day, it took a lot more than just Somalia to create this mess, and it will continue to take a lot more than Somalia to clean it up. Yet, in the pursuit of true independence for Somali people, it is crucial that domestic Somali voices band together across clan differences. After all, by compromising some politics, countless lives and invaluable culture may be preserved.

Works Cited and Consulted:

“HISTORY of SOMALIA.” Historyworld.net, historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistoriesResponsive.asp?historyid=ad20. 

Janzen, Jörg H.A. “Somalia | History, Geography, Culture, & Facts | Britannica.” Www.britannica.com, www.britannica.com/place/Somalia. Sperber, Amanda. “Somalia’s Political Crisis Explained.” The New Humanitarian, 20 May 2021, www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2021/5/20/somalias-political-crisis-explained.

“UNPO: Somaliland and the Issue of International Recognition.” Unpo.org, 23 Jan. 2006, unpo.org/article/3570.

Welle, Deutsche. “Somalia’s Tumultuous 60-Year Journey after Independence | DW | 30.06.2020.” DW.COM, www.dw.com/en/somalias-tumultuous-60-year-journey-after-independence/a-53977180.