Joseph Bukowski
Core 222
Professor Shaul
Somalia-Country Analysis
Introduction
Somalia, formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic during a Socialst rule, has no central government and is characterized as a failed state. Located in the horn of Africa, Somalia has the largest coastline on the continent and was under British rule until 1960. Mohamed Siad Barre took control of Somalia during this transition and his empire reigned until the Somali Civil War in 1991. Since the civil war, most of Somali has been without a central governing body and has been subject to harsh and violent conditions. There has been attempts to establish a government however the regions of Puntland and self-declared Somaliland have been self-governing. These bodies are unrecognized internationally although Somaliland declares itself to be autonomous. Without a stable government, civic disputes have been settled at the local scene. The Transitional Federal Government has became an interim government and its mandate will expire in 2012 (1). At that time, Somalia hopes to have national elections and work towards developing a central authority.
Economy
Without a central government, Somalia is forced to maintain a formal economy mainly consisting of livestock, telecommunications, and money transfer companies. This informal economy has remained fairly healthy as domestic agriculture has contributed a major portion of the country's gross domestic product. Almost half of Somalia's exports consist of agricultural products including livestock, fish, and charcoal. The telecommunications industry supplies most major cities with wireless services. This particular industry thrives because it offers the lowest international call rates on the continent (3). However, the security in Somali is so unstable that it affects the operations of many businesses, small firms in particular. The World Food Programme was forced to suspend its support for the country due to overwhelming theft and the growing black market. Most sectors in the Somalia economy are informal and small business owners often are forced to "buy protection" from local crime syndicates. Humanitarian aid workers have reported dangerous conditions as local miltias will steal the aid and then sell it on a self-regulated market. With the thousands of people suffering from starvation, the problem has resulted in numerous deaths throughout the country.
Military
After gaining independence in 1960, Somalia maintained a military that primerily consisted of an army, air force, and navy. However, during the civil wars the military was too unstable and eventually diminished along with the country. Attempts were made to re-establish a national armed forces and currently the country has the Transitional Federal Government Ministry of Defense which is overseen by the TFG (4). Due to the lack of a central governing authority, Somalia's self-governing regions of Puntland and Somaliland maintain thier own private military and police forces.
Civic Life Without a central governing body, much of Somalia is plauged with black markets and illegal slave trade. These slaves are typically abducted and forcefully relocated into other areas of the continent to never be seen by thier families again. In some cases, families will be tricked into allowing thier child to go to a "work camp" where the family has no proof that they are not being sold into slavery. The poverty facing so many Somali permits easy access for these types of markets to exist. The Somali often use boats to trade their slaves to other African countries through the Indian Ocean. The Oromo slaves are of higher value to Somali as they are prized for their beauty and sexual legitimacy (2). The lack of authority has made it difficult to alleviate these problems but the new interim government seeks to help. Gender discrimination appears to be a serious problem as welll and all laws protecting women against rape and other directed violence are rarely applied. Spousal rape has no legislation and all other forms are resolved through “arrangements” leaving the women in a socially discriminated position. The country lacks a feeling of security within its citizens and it will take some work to take the power away from the crime syndicates.
Growth
Somalia, despite decades of no central government and abundant violence, has maintained a healthy informal economy. It is difficult to measure the actual growth of the economy but based on estimates by the CIA, there has been a projected growth rate of 2.6% since 2001.
The Somalia economy is mostly dominated by livestock, remittance/money transfers, and telecommunications. The private sector has also shown signs of growth in a 2007 British Chambers of Commerce Report. Before the civil war most service sectors were government run but since then there has been substantial private investment in commercial activities. Peter T. Leeson, a libertarian economist, has attributed the increased activity to the Somali customary law referred to as
Xeer. Leeson claims that this provides a stable environment to conduct business in. In comparison to neighboring countries, the
Central Bank of Somalia indicates that the country’s GDP is higher than that of Tanzania, Eritera, and Ethiopia. Almost half of the population lives on less than 1 US dollar a day, with about 24% of those found in urban areas and 54% living in rural areas. (5) Somali has had a "karoake" leadership as in past decades as various entities control the country.
Analysis
Somalia's indepednce is relatively young. The presence of a stable authority is not traditional by any means. However, there is room for growth. As the TFG takes on more of a leadership role and attempts to reauthorize police forces in major regions, the economy should stabalize. In regards to neighboring countries and the dreaded title of being a "failed state", Somalia is in better shape then it could potentially be in. The famine and pleague that spreads across the nation is one that will need to be approached soon as the country could also take a turn for the worst. Illegal crime organizations need to be checked so that aid can flow into the country as well. The next biggest stepping stone will be how Somalia handles the expiration of the interim government mandate. The foundation for a central governing power exists, but the new government must remain strong with initiatives.

Works Cited (1) Saheed A. Adejumobi, The History of Ethiopia, (Greenwood Press: 2006), p.178 (2) Metz, Helen C. (ed.) (1992), "Coup d'Etat", Somalia: A Country Study, Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, retrieved September 15th, 2011. (3)United States. CIA. CIA Factbook. Print. . (4) "President Sharif Opens Military Camp in Capital". SomaliaReport. 16 September 2011. retrived September 18th, 2011 (5) "Central Bank of Somalia – Monetary policy". Somalbanca.org.
http://www.somalbanca.org/monetary-policy.html.