Skip to main content

Somalia 1992’1995

  • Chapter

Part of the book series: Southampton Studies in International Policy ((SSIP))

Abstract

Unlike its operations in Angola, Cambodia and Mozambique, the UN’s disarmament processes in Somalia were not designed as part of a comprehensive peace agreement negotiated between former warring parties. Rather, they were conducted as part of a humanitarian intervention undertaken to prevent the mass starvation of ordinary Somalis who were unable to gain access to food and water due to the extensive devastation wrought by years of drought and civil war. As this chapter will show, disarming the warring parties and controlling the armed bandits that had proliferated in the anarchic conditions of the civil war was perceived by the UN as essential to both the secure delivery of humanitarian aid and the restoration of the Somali state. Despite its recognized importance this disarmament was never achieved.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Notes

  1. C. Adibe, Managing Arms in Peace Processes: Somalia (Geneva: UNIDIR, 1995) pp. 6, 8.

    Google Scholar 

  2. M. Sahnoun, Somalia: The Missed Opportunities (Washington: USIP, 1994) p. 5.

    Google Scholar 

  3. R.G. Patman, ‘The UN Operation in Somalia’, in R. Thakur and C.A. Thayer (eds), A Crisis of Expectations: UN Peacekeeping in the 1990s (Boulder, Colo: Westview Press, 1995) p. 86 and Sahnoun, op. cit., p. 6.

    Google Scholar 

  4. R.G. Patman, ‘Disarming Somalia: The Contrasting Fortunes of United States and Australian Peacekeepers During United Nations Intervention, 1992–1993’, African Affairs, Vol. 96 (1997) p. 512.

    Google Scholar 

  5. T. Farrell, ‘Sliding into War: the Somalia lmbroglio and US Army Peace Operations Doctrine’, International Peacekeeping, Vol. 2, No. 2 (1995) p. 197.

    Google Scholar 

  6. J.L. Hirsch and R.B. Oakley, Somalia and Operation Restore Hope (Washington: USIP, 1995) pp. 44–5.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Sahnoun quoted in J. Stevenson, ‘Hope Restored in Somalia7’, Foreign Policy, No. 91 (1993) p. 145.

    Google Scholar 

  8. K. Kennedy, ‘The Relationship between the Military and the Humanitarian Organizations in Operation Restore Hope’, International Peacekeeping, Vol. 13, No. 1 (1996) pp. 104–5.

    Google Scholar 

  9. A. Natsios, ‘Humanitarian Relief Interventions in Somalia: The Economics of Chaos’, International Peacekeeping, Vol. 3, No. 1 (1996) p. 77.

    Google Scholar 

  10. J. Prendergast, The Bones of Our Children Are Not Yet Buried (Center for Concern, 1994) pp. 28–9.

    Google Scholar 

  11. T. Weiss, ‘Overcoming the Somalia Syndrome: Operation Rekindle Hope’, Global Governance, Vol. 1 (1995) p. 178.

    Google Scholar 

  12. C. Crocker, ‘The Lessons of Somalia: Not Everything Went Wrong’, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 74, No. 3 (1995) p. 5.

    Google Scholar 

  13. J. Hillen, Blue Helmets: The Strategy of UN Military Operations (Washington D.C.: Brassey’s, 1998) p. 194.

    Google Scholar 

  14. B. Boutros-Ghali, An Agenda for Peace (New York: United Nations, 1992) pp. 26–7.

    Google Scholar 

  15. L. Mackensie, quoted in R. Thakur, ‘From Peacekeeping to Peace-Enforcement: the United Nations Operation in Somalia’, Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 32, No. 3 (1994) p. 396.

    Google Scholar 

  16. T. Montgomery, quoted in Farrel, op. cit., p. 203. The decision to offer the reward was also perceived as culturally insensitive because it was seen as insulting and reminded the Somalis of their previous experiences under colonialism.

    Google Scholar 

  17. G.A. Anderson, ‘UNOSOM II: Not Failure, Not Success’, in D. Daniel and B. Hayes (eds), Beyond Traditional Peacekeeping, op. cit., p. 270.

    Google Scholar 

  18. M. Mazarr, ‘The Military Dilemmas of Humanitarian Intervention’, Security Dialogue, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1993) p. 158.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Ken Menkhaus, ‘International Peacebuilding and the Dynamics of Local and National Reconciliation in Somalia’, International Peacekeeping, Vol. 3, No. 1 (1996) p. 63.

    Google Scholar 

  20. M.P. Ganzglass, ‘The Restoration of the Somali Justice System’, International Peacekeeping, Vol. 3, No. 1 (1996) p. 115.

    Google Scholar 

  21. R. Betts, ‘The Delusion of Impartial Intervention’, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 37, No. 6 (1994) p. 26.

    Google Scholar 

  22. I.S. Spears, ‘Building Confidence Amidst Africa’s Civil Wars: The Opportunities and Constraints’, Civil Wars, Vol. 3, No. 2 (2000) pp. 29–30.

    Google Scholar 

  23. M. Berdal, ‘Lessons not Learned: The Use of Force in “Peace Operation” in the 1990s’, International Peacekeeping, Vol. 7, No. 4 (2000) p. 70.

    Google Scholar 

  24. F.E. Stiftung, Comprehensive Report of Lessons-Learned From United Nations Operation in Somalia April 1992-March 1995 (New York: United Nations, 1995) p. 12.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Copyright information

© 2005 Stephen M. Hill

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Hill, S.M. (2005). Somalia 1992’1995. In: United Nations Disarmament Processes in Intra-State Conflict. Southampton Studies in International Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230502963_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics