Citation

Dehéz D, Gebrewold B. Afr. Secur. 2010; 3(1): 1-20.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/19362201003608763

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Twenty years after the state in Somalia collapsed, Somalia is still being referred to as a failed state. By using the term of state failure to describe the situation in Somalia since the breakdown of the central order and the ouster of Siad Barre in 1991, we do not only fail to adequately describe the order that has emerged from the breakdown of the state. We also use a term to describe the current situation that actually describes the period that led up to the breakdown of state structures. Against this background, it is argued in this articale that by using the concept of an order beside the state the situation in Somalia can be captured more accurately. In trying to expand this model, it is further argued that the Somali conflict needs to be understood as a multi-level conflict stystem that extends from a local to a regional and global level.