The Legal and State Theory Problem of Federal Somalia in the 21st Century

Abstract

Somalia is one of the most unstable states in Africa, and this instability is the result of power-political rivalries, due to the historical influences of different eras. Three separate entities with the capacity to influence the state can be distinguished: the oldest is the Somali clan system and hence the clans, followed by the current end product of the significant Islamic expansion in the region, the jihadist organisation al-Shabaab, and finally the Somali government, which is the main enforcer of the federal state apparatus. My aim is to examine the triad’s relationship and the extent of their power from a legal and state-theoretical perspective, which requires a descriptive analysis of the actors in order to reveal their legal and state-theoretical implications. The study concludes that all three actors are in varying relationships with each other, which may be a hostile relationship or a state of dependency, and this is at the root of Somalia’s instability, the resolution of which will be a long-term process.