TY - JOUR AU - Ansems, Adrienne PY - 2011/08/08 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - SOMALIA 2007: STARTING FROM SCRATCH ON THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD TO PEACE AND DEMOCRACY? JF - Scientia Militaria - South African Journal of Military Studies JA - Sci.Mil. VL - 36 IS - 1 SE - Articles DO - 10.5787/36-1-46 UR - https://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/46 SP - AB - Somalia, a country composed of four and a half major tribes, namely the Hawiye,centred in Mogadishu, the Darod based in the North, the Dir and the Rahanweyn (theother 40-odd minor tribes falling into the “half” category) blundered into the 21stcentury without a modern state or its institutions (Mbugua, 2004:26). While thecountry has been without an effective government since 1991, recent reports suggestthat, unless immediate action is taken on an international scale, Somalia will continueon its downward trend towards internal collapse. Although much hope was pinned onthe success of the Somali National Reconciliation Conference, which played host tomore than 1 325 delegates from a selection of Somalia’s various regions and clans totalk about and propose solutions to Somalia’s protracted problems, the conferencewas concluded on 30 August 2007 showing little for participants’ efforts. Thisinitiative came after a spate of fighting in Somalia that has not only been labelled the“worst violence in Somalia’s 16 years of war and turmoil”, but also, “the worst singledisplacement of people this year anywhere in the world” (Nordland, 2007:60). ER -