The Somali Conflict: From Irredentism to Clannish War for Unification

Abstract

This paper examines the Somali conflict, especially how it degenerated from a simple war of ethnic crisis into one of world’s most deadly and persistent crises. The paper investigates the interplay of both local and international factors in the escalation of the war. The paper is of the view that clannish interests and selfish leadership idiosyncrasies more than any other factors had been very critical in the conflict. To this end, the paper has highlighted the issue of clan fragmentation of opposition groups as mainly responsible for the prolongation of the crisis. The work concludes on the note that the role of the international community has not been strong enough to significantly address the conflict. It therefore recommends the operation of a federal or confederal system of government as a possible panacea for the crisis.