The Conflict

Under the dictatorial leadership of Mahammad Siad Barre, Somalia became embroiled in increasing violence throughout the 1970s and 1980s. As public resistance to his regime escalated, Siad Barre's efforts to maintain control grew increasingly brutal as he encouraged ethnic clans to fight one another. In 1991 he fled the country, and it descended into chaos. International intervention failed to achieve a lasting peace and the country has struggled amidst continued fighting to rebuild its government and infrastructure from the ravages of war and to unite its people under one Somalia.

Political

• After dictator Mahammad Siad Barre fled the country, Somalia was left without an organized, functioning central government. A power vacuum ensued, with opposing clans fighting each other for dominance.
• As the violence waned, a...