Somalia: Birth pangs of a new era?

ANALYSIS 29 April 2022 René Brosius Somali politics is experiencing exciting times. However, they could be the birth pangs of a positive turn of times: With the controversial and long-delayed…

Somalia’s complicated election process ends – result: uncertainty

ANALYSIS 15 April 2022 René Brosius Somalia’s complicated election process is ending – and remains complicated. After many delays, Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble recently announced his intention to complete…

The Potential of the Xeer for the Somali Legal System

ANALYSIS René Brosius 26 November 2021 Somalia is considered the prototype of a legally pluralistic environment. Nevertheless, the proper handling of legal diversity has not yet succeeded. While traditional finding…

Light and Shadow in Somalia – How Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a and the Elections are Connected

ANALYSIS René Brosius 12 November 2021 The latest news from Somalia could not be contradictory. On the one hand, the first democratic “one person, one vote” elections since 1969 took…

House of Cards in Villa Somalia

ANALYSIS René Brosius 17 September 2021 In April 2021, after Somalia was on the brink of civil war, it seemed for a long time that the solution would be found…

Why did Democracy Fail in Somalia?

ANALYSIS René Brosius 23 July 2021 If you ask older Somalis about the time shortly after the country’s independence, they often advise you very politely: Firstly, that Somalia was never…

The 4.5 System – An Instrument of Exclusion?

ANALYSIS René Brosius 25 June 2021 In the inner-Somali discussion, the term “4.5 system” comes up again and again, and for outsiders it is not easily recognisable what concept lies…

Child Labour in Somalia – A Legal Analysis

ANALYSIS Lisa Strube 04 June 2021 According to UNICEF, there are 218 million working children between the ages of 5 and 17 years worldwide. 152 million of these working children…

Is Civil War Coming to Somalia?

COMMENT René Brosius 28 April 2021 The conflict over elections in Somalia[1] , which has been ongoing since last summer, has reached the next stage of escalation. Internationally mediated talks…

Somalia vs. Kenya – The maritime border dispute

COMMENT René Brosius 09 April 2021 Somalia and Kenya do not have a tension-free relationship. Many reasons for this lie in the conflict-ridden history. The border between the two countries…