A Fleeting Victory in Somalia

Somalia’s government re-took control of the capital from Islamist Courts Council. If the internationally recognized government, with the help from its US and Ethiopian supporters, does not quickly restore stability, “the conflict could become a regional war and a new field of jihad,” warns US Naval War College professor Jonathan Stevenson in an essay for “The New York Times.” The US has since launched an air strike in southern Somalia, targeting Al Qaeda members who attacked US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Like other troubled Islamic nations, Somalia does not demand military options, Stevenson writes, but rather diplomacy, power-sharing among diverse groups, education and economic development that decrease poverty. Leadership and diplomacy in Africa would deprive Al Qaeda of another front in the war on terror and demonstrate that the US can provide practical support to a Muslim nation. – YaleGlobal