I've been reading a few articles and listening to a few lectures, if anyone knows of any good books on the country and the state of statelessness, post it. Thanks!
Freedom has always been the only route to progress.
@Libertyandlife, I'm sure you've read this, but if not (just an article), you can add it to your resources: http://mises.org/daily/1855
www.skylerjcollins.com www.libertysearch.info
The Law of the Somalis: A Stable Foundation for Economic Development in the Horn of Africa
Somalia: Economy without State
http://austrianaddiction.rationalmind.net/archives/2007/06/case-studies-in.html
There is a section on Somalia near the bottom.
Wed. 10/05/19 18:33 EDT.post #96In case you missed this video (I know you asked for books, but...):Benjamin Powell, Stateless In Somalia
I've read all these articles before and that video, thanks though. Those two books though, I may just purchase.
Does anyone know if this transitional government has any chance of surviving, or more hopefully, failing?
It's really hard to say. News from Somalia is generally sketchy, often factually wrong, and always heavily biased in the favor of the UN and "pro-government forces." The "government" which holds a few blocks in Mogadishu and some surrounding cities is in serious trouble. African nations don't want to pay for it anymore but the big Western governments have no credibility with Somalis who have suffered at the hands of Western-imposed governments for a long time. This means that the wannabe government in Mogadishu has to somehow impose taxes but, in Somalia, that's a joke. The al-Shabaab group has the astroturf feel of al-Qaeda. I would be surprised if there isn't some spook connection between al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab actually does collect some "taxes", so my guess is that if a government does emerge in Somalia, it will be them, not the TFG.
But in Somaliland and, to a lesser extent, Puntland (northern "Somalia"), there is already a stable social order. Al-Shabaab have no foothold there. The mere existence of Somaliland and Puntland will make life hell for any would-be government in the South since you can always drive a few hundred miles and exchange tax-free.
Clayton -
Wikipedia seems to contradict itself, it mentions anarchy in one page, but here it mentions a government exists, I don't understand:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland#Politics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland#Politics_and_government
The most important people in the formal government now are the Islamists who were on the brink of taking the country from the warlords and against whom the Ethiopians were encouraged to intervene. They are in the coalition with the TFG people. But the extremist wing of these Islamists continues to fight on, now against both the TFG and the mainstream ICU.
Wikipedia seems to contradict itself, it mentions anarchy in one page, but here it mentions a government exists, I don't understand: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland#Politics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland#Politics_and_government
These are breakaway regions up in the north, they never had anarchy.
^So which part of Somalia is/or was(?) in a state of anarchy?
The South. But even there you always had a bunch of warlords contesting territory between themselves and so on. There was never really a shortage of entities calling themselves a 'government' anywhere in Somalia. The question is really wether they can collect taxes from everyone under their control and are they the sole provider of justice in their area and the answer is no for every one of them so whatever they are the government of it is not of a state.
The South.
The North is in a state of anarchy, it's just not in a state of chaos like the South because customary Somali law (Xeer) is in much better repair in the North than in the South where international interference has almost incessantly - except from 1995 to 2003 - been creating a "king of the hill" syndrome. Strife among the clans is inflamed by the international pressure to create a government with every clan aligning itself with a different armed faction and jockeying to be the top dog when a government is finally established.
Mogadishu is much too distant to exert influence over Puntland or Somaliland so the strife in Mogadishu has still not perturbed Somali clan society in those regions. The Somalis quickly reverted to their ancient customary law after the collapse of the Barre regime and subsequent withdrawal of peacekeeping forces after the Aidid incident. From 1995 until the beginning of the Ethiopian war against Somalia, there was relative peace and Somalis began clawing their way out of absolute destitution. However, the ongoing conflict since the Ethiopian invasion and subsequent "African Union" missions culminating in today's "Transitional Federal Government" have interfered with the operation of customary Somali law in the south which explains the greater chaos there.
Clayton-
You are right.
But Somaliland has a small military force. That is not a tribal institution, it would be interesting to know where the money for that comes from.