Global diaspora of ideas

Somalis are the new Jews. You can find Somalis in almost every country on earth - a truly global diaspora. I can't tell you how many times I discovered Somalis living in random remote countries like Morocco, Zambia, Thailand, Syria, Brazil, Mexico and in large numbers in China. I even have Somali relatives in Hungary, Vietnam and Norway. Hearing about these surprising location got me thinking - maybe there is a Somali in every country on earth. And what does this mean for Somalia once the country becomes stable?

While many Somalis are content in their adopted homelands, some still feel an itch to move back to Somalia and get involved in the country's progress somehow. Already there are large numbers of diaspora who have returned to the country and now lead major organizations, businesses, are Ministers in the government - even the Prime Minister, Abdiweli Mohamed, is from the diaspora. Buffalo New York to be exact. These are largely the daredevils in the diaspora who somehow see a greater interest (whether sincere or selfish) in going back to Somalia rather than staying abroad. But the vast majority still see the risks as too high given instability, even if they have a strong desire to go to the country.

When Somalia becomes peaceful, there is a good chance people will flood back to the country to start businesses in the largely untapped market, get involved in development work, try to become politicians, or just retire in the country (like my mother plans to do). This diaspora will struggle to communicate, not just because one guy will speak English, another Norwegian, another Arabic and the fourth Malay. They will struggle to communicate because the countries in which they were raised, educated and assimilated to have hugely different cultures and this can lead to conflict. An American Somali may return to Mogadishu with liberal ideas about the role of government in citizens' lives, while a Saudi Somali might have a more conservative approach. Of course one cannot generalize about how being from a country can affect a persons perspective, but one thing is for sure, there will be many many many diverse and conflicting perspectives that could potentially collide in Somalia very soon.

Whether Somalis embrace this diversity of ideas and harness it to achieve progress, rather than conflict, is what remains to be seen. A larger marketplace of ideas and perspectives could be a huge asset. Politicians and social leaders should begin thinking now about how to achieve a positive interaction that melds diverse ideas and brings out the best results.

Clan - love it or hate it, you need to include it

I enjoy talking about Somali politics and culture, but when people bring up clan and clanism, i tend to recoil. Its like a curse word when discussing Somalia because all I associate clan with is divisive politics.

But recently I met a Somali-Kenyan man with 30 years experience in the development field and he changed my perspective on clan. He made a compelling case based on his experience with numerous communities inside of Somalia for why clan is important, but he also recognized that is can be misused. He described how he witnessed community meetings where clan and sub-clan structures were used to mediate conflict and re-establish peace. Respected clan elders - sometimes called ugaas, aqil, sultan etc - discuss problems and refer to the xeer - a traditional somali legal code - to resolve these problems. These legitimate authorities - the elders and the xeer - have made conflict resolution possible throughout Somali history. Fast forward to today. This exceptionally intelligent man said the reason Somalia's political quagmire is still unresolved is because clan structures and traditional law is not made central to the mediation process. Rather, they play peripheral roles in favor of western-inspired government and legal systems.

His argument struck me as valid, and I think it could prove transformative if enough people hear it. Most people who work on or follow Somali politics (including myself) come from other countries and use very un-Somali political frameworks to analyze the Somali problem. Worst of all, we make recommendations to policy makers based on these non-Somali frameworks. Rather than using what exists - traditional clan laws - we are trying to create new institutions inspired by western structures. This will certainly take a long time, and may not even prove possible in the somali context.

He added that anyone who thinks clan can be ignored is foreign in their outlook, and out of touch with Somalia's reality. I think thats absolutely true, especially because diaspora tend to parachute into somali political discussions without much experience inside the country, but nevertheless feeling more qualified to speak to governance and other issues than people from within somalia. With a PhD in European history, why wouldn't you have everything necessary to find solutions for Somalia?

Ignoring clan though comes from a  good place. It comes from seeing how societies can be harmonious when the population is united on a national level, not a more narrow clan level. It also comes from seeing how clan has been and continues to be used in Somalia for harmful and divisive purposes by some leaders. But this fear of clan is based partly on ignorance of clan systems. Clan can be divisive, but it can also unite communities. It brings order and justice through traditional legal systems. It leads large numbers of people to act as a family - even when they have little blood ties.  The good in clan needs to be harnessed, and the bad controlled for.

So rather than ignore clan in any future thoughts on Somalia, i'll make sure to recognize it as one element necessary to understanding, and ultimately resolving, problems facing Somalia.

Getting Somalia Wrong

I just came across this book review by Magnus Taylor about BBC journalist Mary Harper's new book, Getting Somalia Wrong. This is definitely a book worth reading. 


"Harper's book has grown out of 20 years working on and in the country, and functions not as a conventional history of Somalia, but rather as a discussion of several key themes central to its present state. Pleasantly surprising was the thread of black humour that runs throughout, created by the description of several historical events that exemplify an admirable, and slightly crazed, Somali independence of spirit.

First is the story of the 'Mad Mullah' - warrior poet Seyyid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan - who fought the British to a standstill in the early 20th century and described himself as 'a stubborn he-camel' from whom the British would get 'war and nothing else.' When his troops killed a British commander sent to pursue him, he penned 'a brutal celebratory poem' detailing how his dead body would be 'left to the carrion eaters.'

In a neat historical parallel, eighty years later, warlord General Mohamed Farah Aideed had a $20,000 bounty placed on his head by Admiral Jonathan Howe - commander of the US 'humanitarian' mission Restore Hope. Aideed responded by promising to pay $20,000 to anyone who brought him the actual head of Admiral Howe. Whilst such violent reactions might seem anathema to us, they underscore a fundamental self-confidence that Harper clearly respects. Long-time scholar of Somalia, Ioan Lewis, puts it another way - Somalis have 'an open contempt for other people.'

What Harper is trying to do is to resurrect a basic level of respect in discussions about Somalia. From its portrayal as a lawless place, riven with fundamentalist Islam, and latterly suffering the effects of a terrible famine, she argues that these aren't the only things that happen in the country. Her real interest, I think, was in profiling modern-day Somalia where 'more than two decades of conflict and crisis have forced Somalis to invent alternative political and economic systems.' These innovations in the economy, the livestock trade, money transfers and telecommunications reveal something that will be new to many readers - successful Somalis making money. She also clearly admires the political developments in Somaliland - the northern territory that seceded from the Somalia after the collapse of the country's central government in 1991. Still unrecognised by the international community, Somaliland has slowly developed its own hybrid democratic system with some traditional structures still in place, and is generally peaceful and heading in the right direction.


In conversation Harper refers to Somalia as being "like a complex mathematical equation" - the moving parts being the country's bewildering clan system, and although some Somalis reportedly deny its modern-day importance, Harper "would take any Somali on who said the clan system was not relevant." Whilst clans were suppressed under Siad Barre's pseudo-socialist regime, and their resurgence in the 1990s is sometimes seen as the cause of the civil war, they remain the shifting bedrock upon which Somali society is built. I ask what she thinks defeat of the Islamist group Al-Shabaab would do for the country. The answer is perhaps surprising - far from ending the violence, Harper predicts that Somalia might, at least initially, take a step backwards, as the more ingrained divisions would resurface and regional clan-based groups take up arms again against each other. Whilst she deals harshly with the violent and reactionary Islam of Al-Shabaab, she states that their presence has softened the influence of the clan in Somalia. Whilst this has been achieved "largely through fear," she also argues that there might be some things to learn from this about the way Somali society works."


See full review here: http://allafrica.com/stories/201201301453.html

Racism and the inferiority complex

I hate racism against any and all people. But the one type of racism that is most disturbing is when a population is racist towards their own, and elevate another. I saw this most clearly in Kenya than any other African country I've visited.

This past weekend I was denied entry into a hotel in Malindi, Kenya because I'm black. This has never happened to me before so I was caught off guard, and actually began making excuses for why the hotel guard was turning us back. I thought it must be because the hotel was full and he just didn't want to explain in detail his reason. My Kenyan friend, however, was fuming, and said if we were white he would never turn us back. She insisted that the guard let us in. The guard finally agrees to call his manager and ask for permission to let us in. While on the phone, he leaned down to get a good look at who was in the car as he spoke with his boss. He then said into the cell phone "No sir, they are all blacks in the car." I was shocked and dumbfounded. Never had I been so blatantly discriminated against in my life, and of all places, in Africa by Africans!

Its become clear that in this beautifully diverse continent, some populations have yet to shake-off the colonial mindset that elevates whites above all others, and as a result, they treat whites or other foreigners with far more respect than their own fellow Africans. Many, but certainly not all, Kenyans suffer from this inferiority complex, and its tragic to see in the 21st century.

a model: barefoot college

Click this link to see a great TED video about Bunker Roy, an Indian who started an extraordinary school that "teaches rural women and men — many of them illiterate — to become solar engineers, artisans, dentists and doctors in their own villages."

I think this model could be replicated in rural areas of Somalia.

http://blog.ted.com/2011/10/17/learning-from-a-barefoot-movement-bunker-roy-on-ted-com/

Consciousness necessary for change

One of my favorite authors, Leo Tolstoy, once wrote the following in his diary:

"I was cleaning a room and, meandering about, approached the divan and couldn't remember whether or not I had dusted it. Since these movements are habitual and unconscious, I could not remember and felt that it was impossible to remember - so that if I had dusted it and forgot - that is, had acted unconsciously, then it was the same as if I had not. If some conscisoul person had been watching, then the fact could be established. If, however, no one was looking, or looking on unconsciously, if the whole complex lives of many people go on unconsciously, then such lives are as if they had never been."

On a personal level, these words can have a profound impact on an individual, forcing one to assess whether they act consciously in their lives, because, as can be gleaned from this quotation, to live unconsciously is to not live at all. As dramatic as that sounds, I tend to agree with the statement because to live unconsciously is to live without intention, and I believe intention is essential to making ones actions (and life) have any meaning at all.

I may be distorting Tolstoy's original message, but I think this lesson can be extrapolated to a national level, and that entire populations can live unconsciously. This could result from a culture that does not value change for the better, perhaps because they do not believe change is possible. Or a population that does not recognize all that is happening around them, the beautiful and the ugly, because they are so caught up in the routines of life.

In countries like Somalia, after years of instability - a government full of corrupt politicians, a stagnant economy with few jobs available, and frequent military clashes between dozens of different factions - it is no surprise that the population has developed a culture of pessimism and largely do not believe in positive change. This condition has left many Somalis in a basic routine, largely comprised of a focus on survival, the need to  find subsistence for family, and the effort to gain refuge in another country, preferably somewhere in the West. I'm no phsychologist, but based on what i've seen and read, and people i've met, I believe this condition is pervasive in Somalia, and has led to the living of unconscious lives.

Once the population lives more consciously, and takes every bomb blast as an abomination - not a common occurrence - and every act of corruption by politicians as inexcusable - not business as usual - then only then will they have the will to change their condition, and to truly live with consciousness and intention. This consciousness must first manifest on a personal level before it can translate into national progress.

Somalia the Playground

I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories. They tend to explain major events with simplistic and cynical reasoning, and I tend to have more belief in the basic good nature of human beings to believe in the vastness of most conspiracy theories.


But then last week Kenya invaded Somalia. This must be the biggest political/military blunder since the Ethiopian military invaded the country in 2006. Somalis, especially those who have a tendency towards conspiracy, are shouting off the rooftops. A pattern has developed, they claim. Every time Somalia shows a hint of stability, some neighbor invades the country, putting the peace process and development efforts back to square one.


Ethiopia invaded Somalia in 2006 with the expressed purpose of fighting "terrorists." The invasion successfully pushed out of power the Union of Islamic Courts, the first governance system to bring stability, rule of law, and safety to the population in over a decade. Business was booming, the diaspora was returning to the country to rebuild homes and the sense of hope was never so high. But with the swift movement of the Ethiopian military, the UIC disintegrated and all that remained was a militia that branded itself al-Shabaab. Ethiopia's invasion helped to create al-Shabaab, and after two years of devastating conflict, Ethiopian troops pulled out of Somalia, leaving the country largely in al-Shabaab's control.


Fast-forward to today: Just as al-Shabaab became weaker than ever, as a consequence of the drought, decreasing finances and overall disillusionment with the organizations authoritarian and draconian rule, Kenya decides to invade. The invasion followed the kidnapping of a French tourist from northeast Kenya's coastal town of Lamu, and the Kenyan government announced that it would not tolerate Somali rebels crossing the border and wreaking havoc in Kenya. But the impact of this invasion will be far-reaching and resounding for  years to come if Kenya does not pull out soon. Already, al-Shabaab is crying out its new rallying cry - to fight the infidel Kenyans that are invading, raping, pillaging and bombing Somali brethren. This was similar to the information campaign launched during Ethiopia's invasion and unfortunately, it will almost certainly resonate with ordinary Somalis who until recently despised al-Shabaab. The insurgent/terrorist group will now be seen as the defenders of the homeland once again.