Dynamics and Politics of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Violent Conflicts Arms Control and its Challenges in Somalia

Abstract

Somalia and the Horn of Africa are awash with arms. The sheer quantities, numbers and diversity of arms are greater than at any other time, despite the long-standing Security Council arms embargo of 1992. Small arms and light weapons (SALWs) are the arms of choice in the Horn of Africa because they are accessible and their proliferation is not easily monitored or controlled. This article examines the role of SALWs in fuelling violence and driving the war economy in the conflict subsystem of Somalia. Global and regional arms control which can contain the proliferation and trafficking of SALWs is explored.

Africa Insight Vol 43(1) – June 2013