Overview

Since early 2007 a new breed of combatants has appeared on the streets of Mogadishu and other towns in Somalia: the 'Shabaab', or youth, the only self-proclaimed branch of al-Qaeda to have gained acceptance (and praise) from Ayman al-Zawahiri and 'AQ centre' in Afghanistan. Itself an offshoot of the Islamic Courts Union, which split in 2006, Shabaab has imposed Sharia law and is also heavily influenced by local clan structures within Somalia itself. It remains an infamous and widely discussed, yet little-researched and understood, Islamist group. Hansen's remarkable book attempts to go beyond the media headlines and simplistic analyses based on alarmist or localist narratives and, by employing intensive field research conducted within Somalia, as well as on the ground inter- views with Shabaab leaders themselves, explores the history of a remarkable organisation, one that has survived predictions of its collapse on several occasions. Hansen portrays al-Shabaab as a hybrid Islamist organisation that combines a strong streak of Somali nationalism with the rhetorical obligations of international jihadism, thereby attracting a not insignificant number of foreign fighters to its ranks. Both these strands of Shabaab have been inadvertently boosted by Ethiopian, American and African Union attempts to defeat it militarily, all of which have come to nought.

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9781849042505

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Reviews

'This disturbing but fascinating book not only documents the rise of one of the most dangerous of al-Qaeda's affiliates but also explains its central importance to Somali politics. Hansen is a skilful writer whose long experience of Somali life allows him to enter into the thinking of one of the world's most dangerous fundamentalist groups.' - Christopher Coker, Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics, and author of Warrior Geeks: How 21st Century Technology is Changing the Way We Fight and Think About War 'So far, no book-length treatment of Al Shabaab exists in the academic literature, and due to the political and military importance of the group in Somalia and the wider Horn of Africa, policymakers and development workers, as well as area specialists, are in urgent need of such a detailed account.' - Markus Hoehne, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology 'If you want to understand the reality of the Al-Shabaab phenomenon in Somalia, its existence in the country and its grounding in that ravaged land, this short book, written by a researcher who actually engaged in person with his research topic, will provide you with more concrete nourishment than a whole raft of official reports.' - Gerard Prunier, author of From Genocide to Continental War: The 'Congolese' Conflict and the Crisis of Contemporary Africa

'So far, no book-length treatment of Al Shabaab exists in the academic literature, and due to the political and military importance of the group in Somalia and the wider Horn of Africa, policymakers and development workers, as well as area specialists, are in urgent need of such a detailed account.' - Markus Hoehne, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

'This disturbing but fascinating book not only documents the rise of one of the most dangerous of al-Qaeda's affiliates but also explains its central importance to Somali politics. Hansen is a skilful writer whose long experience of Somali life allows him to enter into the thinking of one of the world's most dangerous fundamentalist groups.' - Christopher Coker, Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics, and author of Warrior Geeks: How 21st Century Technology is Changing the Way We Fight and Think About War 'So far, no book-length treatment of Al Shabaab exists in the academic literature, and due to the political and military importance of the group in Somalia and the wider Horn of Africa, policymakers and development workers, as well as area specialists, are in urgent need of such a detailed account.' - Markus Hoehne, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

Author Information

Stig Jarle Hansen is an Associate Professor in International Relations at the University of Life Science in Norway. He specialises in the geopolitics of the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, as well as the links between religion, politics and war economies.

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