For more than 2 decades, Somalia has been the prime example of a collapsed state, resisting multiple attempts to reconstitute a central government, with the current internationally-backed regime of the "Federal Republic of Somalia" struggling just to maintain its hold on the capital and the southeastern littoral -- thanks only to the presence of a more than 17,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force. Despite the desultory record, the apparent speedy collapse since late 2011 of the insurgency spearheaded by the Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen (Movement of Warrior Youth, al-Shabaab) -- a militant Islamist movement with al-Qaeda links -- has made it fashionable within some political and military circles to cite with little nuance the "Somalia model" as a prescription for other conflicts in Africa, including the fight in Mali against al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its allies. This monograph takes a closer look at the situation in order to draw out the real lessons from the failures and successes of the counterinsurgency effort in Somalia.

"November 2013." Format not distributed to depository libraries.

Introduction -- Identity and legitimacy among the Somali -- From union to fragmentation : a brief history of modern Somalia -- The failure of the transitional federal government -- AMISOM : peacekeepers with no peace to keep -- The Islamist insurgents -- The Somalia that works : "bottom-up" versus "top-down" -- Famine changes the game? -- AMISOM turns the tide, al-Shabaab mutates -- Another Somali government -- A lesson about legitimacy and the limits of military force in counterinsurgency -- Conclusion.