The Somali Peninsula

A beautiful tyranny misnamed partnership The relationship To which we are wedded Is a beautiful tyranny Misnamed partnership. Our partnership Is a partnership of unequal partners Of unequal powers and unequal opportunities A partnership honeycombed With labyrinths of genteel deception, division and exclusion. In our partnership One party represents An imperial order of unprecedented sway and intrigue Into whose hegemonic bosom The other is conveniently entombed. In our partnership One party is the source, centre and symbol Of all knowledge, civilisation and salvation The other a mere consumer Of high culture and QUIPs [1] . We are stakeholders in a bizarre covenant That folds enslavement In intoxicating benevolence and grace Our partnership is afflicted with saintly inhumanity. In the cold mathematics of our partnership Our partnership is our destiny. Amen. © 1995 Hassan Keynan Keynan, Hassan, (1995). A tyra...

Can Somali sovereignty and unity be saved? Analysis and recommendations Hassan A. Keynan* Somalia has been blighted by decades of strife and seemingly endless political instability and chaos. The reasons for this tragic state of affairs are many, complex, multi-dimensional and immensely variegated. A complete and comprehensive investigation of what went wrong and why would not possible in this brief account. However, a few factors warrant particular attention. First, the 2000 Arta Charter that introduced the 4.5 power-sharing formula, the 2004 Nairobi Charter that promulgated the federal system, and the Provisional Constitution (PC) that was adopted in Mogadishu in 2012, were all political and legal documents that were initiated, negotiated and rolled out in ways and under circumstances characterized by haste, secrecy, manipulation, and excessive control by external actors. In fact, all were crafted outside Somalia, under the sponsorship and patronage of foreign countries, inc...