beyond

Opinion: Somalia should lead a Horn of Africa economic bloc built on connectivity corridors The Horn of Africa is at a hinge moment. After decades marked by fragmentation and instability, the region faces a practical imperative: build a regional economic bloc anchored in modern connectivity corridors or cede another generation to missed potential. For Somalia, whose Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden coastline sits astride one of the world’s busiest maritime routes, the choice is stark. With recent macroeconomic stabilization,…

Decentralization Without Detachment: How Somalia’s Federal Experiment Risks Repackaging Authoritarian Rule Somalia’s embrace of federalism was meant to end the abuses of centralized power, redistribute authority closer to citizens, and lower the stakes of political competition. Three decades on, the core problem is not the federal model itself but decentralization without cultural detachment from the authoritarian habits entrenched under military rule. Power has been dispersed in form yet reproduced in practice—personalized,…