Dissecting the Horn of Africa: A Potential Powerhouse Plagued by Destructive Complications

The intense and battering waves of two seas and one ocean break and roll over themselves on the beautiful and ancient sands of a proud and distinct nation. A land that earns its nickname as the “Horn of Africa”, as the shape of this country harkens likeness to the protruding tusks of the regal and prestigious African Elephant. As the refreshing ocean breeze sweeps the East African coastline, tens of thousands of cargo ships disappear beyond the horizon, darting to and from the Suez Canal. This land is called Somalia, where the largest border is not with the land, but with the vastness of the open water. For a nation with such great economic potential via its’ geographic location, why does its population continue to live in an anarchic hellscape?

Colonial Somalia

When discussing the reasons why an African nation is in such a poor, disenfranchised, or otherwise defective condition, European colonialism is often, and justifiably, the main culprit. Although the Somali peninsula offers next to no arable land to farm on, its strategic position between the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea makes it a key economic geographical location, resulting in both European and African powers attempting to claim the land. The history of Somali subjugation via foreign rule began under the Khevidate of Egypt in 1874 under the Ottoman empire with a nine-year invasion of the Horn of Africa, both the invaders and defenders of the conflict fought and died for the interests of Britain and France respectively in one of the earliest examples of proxy warfare in history (Woolf, 1920). After the bloody war, France lost interest in Somalia, which it viewed now saw as barren, coastal wastes, and instead decided to pursue the much more desirable land of Djibouti to the north. As the French vacated and the English stayed put, another European power stepped to the forefront to claim their piece of the pie: the Kingdom of Italy.

Gone were the days of France and Britain as the only and main colonizers, and the 1880s were the beginning of a proliferation of European land claims which carved up the majority of the African continent (New Encyclopedia, 2019), known as the Scramble for Africa.

During this time, even the new sprouting European powers such as the German and Belgian empires took hold of massive sprawls of African land. The Scramble for Africa truly lived up to its namesake, as European powers jumped at land holdings like piranhas, engulfing 90 per cent of all African land under European rule by 1914 (Shisia, 2018). Although Somalia’s neighbor, Ethiopia, fought against European colonialism and remained free, the same could not be said about Somalia itself. The Berlin Conference of 1884 ceded all lands in Somalia south of the claimed British trade routes to the young Italian Republic.

British and Italian Somalia in the 20th Century

After five decades of unsteady bilateral rule, the British and Italian sections of Somalia faced turmoil in the Second World War. Italian victories were commonplace at the beginning of the war, effectively ousting Britain from all of its peninsular landholdings in August of 1940. However, these triumphs were short-lived, as British forces fully ejected all Italians from East Africa in 1941 (Metz, 1992). Italy would not attempt nor gain back its hold on Somalia until after the war.

Italy would only step foot back on Somalian soil in 1950, only after Britain adhered to the United Nation’s Trust Territory Decree of 1950, which reinstated Italian rule over Somalia; but only on the condition that Somalia would receive full independence after 10 years (Zapata, 2012). The promise was upheld, and Somalia was free from colonial rule on July 1, 1960.

From a Promising Start to a Military Dictator

Internal and International hopes for Somalia grew rapidly from 1960 to 1969, as the economy boomed through organized governmental and regulatory standards, the new Somali Constitution guaranteed freedom of speech, and free and fair elections were upheld (Metz, 1992). Moreover, in 1963, President Aden Adde unveiled an ambitious five-year economic plan to bring Somalia up to speed with surrounding regional powers subsisting of $100 million USD worth of foreign grants and loans. Based on Somalia’s advantageous naval position, it was poised to be the next East African power. These dreams were unfortunately dashed in 1969.

President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke was killed by his own bodyguards at the order of the Commander of the Somali Army, Siad Barre, who took power and ruled as a tyrant. Barre’s ambitiousness allowed him to recognize an opportune moment to strike the government, effectively toppling the promising and growing Somali government. Somalia was oppressed for the next several decades by a dictatorship, a period speckled by bloodbaths and human rights atrocities (Jalloh, 2020). The admittedly fragile democratic peace of pre-coup d'état Somalia and the felt potential for a better future held back the floodgates of multi-ethnic divisions which sparked internal conflicts and violence. The assassination of the president - the head of a sovereign state and the symbol of this peace and hope - carried out by his own protection force, proved to be disastrous for Somalia’s future.

The promise of a strong regional power on the Somalian peninsula lay dead. From 1969 forwards, Somalia would destroy itself in the shadow of what it once could have been.

The Age of Somali Unrest (1969-1978)

Commander Barre’s desperate and careless grab for power left much of Somalia located outside of the immediate vicinity of Mogadishu exposed to warlords and clans, which took over many of these regions. According to Somali political analyst Mohamed Haji Husein Rage, “Siad Barre made a great strategic mistake when he tried to adopt something called scientific socialism, which is an absolutely secular atheistic system, in a country which consists mainly of conservative Muslims. So the people rejected that.” (Jalloh, 2020). Bafflingly, Somalia was not in a complete state of anarchy as the government was still present, albeit opening in a completely ineffective way, creating room for the argument that anarchy might have been the better option for many of the nation.

The closest Somalia ever felt to national unity was under the duress of warfare, when Barre declared war against Ethiopia in 1977, kickstarting the Ogaden War over ethnic territorial claims (Oberdorfer, 1978). The war itself was one of the messiest jumbles of self-interests in African history, with Somalia having Soviet support at the beginning of the war, losing it, and becoming a puppet for American interests in the region. After eight months of fighting Soviet-advised Ethiopian and Cuban armies, Somalia was defeated with no territorial gains, over 6,000 dead soldiers (which was a massive portion of Somalia’s able-bodied men), and a deeper spiral down the self-fulfilling prophecy of cyclical violence.

The Somali Civil War (Beginning Date Debated-Present)

Without substantial military victories, Somalia began to splinter even further, into civil war. Dissent manifested itself in the formation of armed rebel groups: The United Somali Congress, The Somali National Movement, The Somali Salvation Democratic Front, and the Somali Patriotic Movement (Menkhaus, 2007). All united to end the tyranny of the Barre regime. While the goal of the rebel groups may seem noble, the fight to oust Barre left behind several power vacuums blotted throughout the sparsely-populated northern lands often taken advantage of by strong ethnic groups.

Many of these ethnic takeovers saw the rise of regional family groups gaining power via genociding rival clans. The deadliest of these genocides was the Isaaq Genocide, a mass murder so egregiously large in scope, it is often called the “Hargeisa holocaust”. Between 1987 to 1989, upwards of 200,000 ethnic Isaaqi people of Somaliland and Ethiopia were shot or starved to death by warring clans sponsored by the Barre regime (Kennard and Einashe, 2018). This crackdown was an attempt by Barre to secure his rule in areas of the country where he was most unpopular.

This is the unfortunate pattern of independent Somali history. A war between the north and south, between Somalia and Somaliland.

The End of Barre and “Black Hawk Down”

The end of Siad Barre’s reign of terror over the Somalian people did not end the nation’s bad luck. Upon his government collapsing in 1991 and his fatal heart attack in a Nigerian hospital in 1995, Somaliland claimed independence from Somalia. In a depressing and predictable loop, with no national leader, Somalia fell back into civil war. Resulting in the expected rise of regional warlord power, after becoming involved in the previous Somali Civil war on behalf of Barre, American forces were sent to secure the capital of Mogadishu from the most notorious and violent warlord, Mohamed Farrah Aidid (Dimuro, 2018).

The merciless killer gained the attention of the United States and United Nations forces after General Aidid killed 24 United Nations peacekeepers in 1993, stating, “We don’t seed outsiders… [we will] send them home in body bags” (Farrell, 2007). These aggressive actions prompted the U.S. to initiate Operation Gothic Serpent and lay siege to the terrorist-controlled Mogadishu. What was supposed to be a 90-minute military sweep ended up becoming a 15-hour slaughter resulting in the deaths of over 1,000 civilians and military and two of America’s most advanced helicopters, The Black Hawk, and its crew (Santos and Perdue, 2022). America severely underestimated the enemy force and was humiliated by the indecisive conclusion of the conflict. From this point forward, the United States disbanded the United Nations Operation In Somalia II (UNOSOM II) in 1995 (Encyclopedia of United States National Security, 2005).

Somalian Piracy

Somalian piracy grew in popularity at this time, as other avenues of sustaining oneself were drying up and faced with the danger of violence given the economic and political collapse. The most well-paying activities that Somalians could procure to protect themselves and their families quickly became forms of piracy, human trafficking, and stealing aid from the United Nations (Reliefweb, 2006). Piracy spiked in popularity between 2005 and 2012, when in between that time, Somali pirates commandeered the American shipping vessel Maersk Alabama in 2009, leading to a speedy military response from the United States.

Between 2008 and 2012, Somalia became the host of the most savage and intimidating piracy operations in the 21st century (Sow, 2017). Due to this, the acts against the United States discussed, and overall geopolitical and security interests, the United States decided to take a firmer stance by attempting to subdue Somalia

Due to the two acts against the United States and overall geopolitical and security interests, the United States decided to take ataractic actions against the dangers within the Somali border.

America’s Secret War

After 2008, shipping vessels slowly began to take Somalian piracy seriously and avoided the coastline. This method proved to be successful, as the number of pirate attacks decreased significantly from 2012 onwards (Phayal Prins and Daxecker, 2017). However, the demolition of one national ailment gave rise to another: Islamic terrorism.

Under the Obama administration, the United States military increased its involvement in Somalia to 300 American military personnel acting with friendly Somalian forces to fight the Somali-born terrorist group Al-Shabaab (Turse, 2022). The Pentagon, the United States headquarters for the Department of Defense, confirmed 16 ground raids and airstrikes from up to 2016 alone and verified the group's responsibility for a 2016 airline bombing and the Kenya Westgate Mall Massacre of 2013 (Flanagan, 2016). Although on-the-ground personnel have been pulled out of Somalia since 2016 and replaced American troop presence with offensive drone attacks, the United States still regularly enacts military operations against Al-Shabaab to this day.

A Light at the End of the Tunnel?

Through the trudge of Somalia’s depressing recent history, the issue of Somaliland's independence was always treated with scrutiny. The northern tip of the peninsula once controlled by Britain continues to press for independence, citing Articles 1 and 55 of the UN Charter of self-determination for sovereignty (Essa, 2020). Somaliland's advocates continue to fight for independence to this day, wanting to separate themselves from the anchor of the Mogadishu bureaucracy.

While the future of Somalia is as uncertain as ever, old problems like piracy give way to new threats, like religious terror groups. The plight of Somalia against seemingly overwhelming internal and external struggles offers little hope for change.

The horrific and bloody history of Somalia has not only damaged its government and global reputation but more importantly, its people. Over 15 million people and their families have suffered this brutal history and want nothing more than to live in a peaceful and stable country, but for such a dream to be realized requires time, education, and the establishment of reliable authority.

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