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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Private security & local politics in Somalia |
Author: | Hansen, Stig Jarle |
Year: | 2008 |
Periodical: | Review of African Political Economy |
Volume: | 35 |
Issue: | 118 |
Pages: | 585-598 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Somalia Somaliland |
Subjects: | national security private enterprises |
External link: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056240802569268 |
Abstract: | The use of private security by weak States is often seen to erode State power and prevent national institution building. This article investigates the use of private military force in Somalia and the three different entities that exercise political authority within this geographically defined territory, namely the Transitional Federal Government, Puntland, and Somaliland. All three have contracted private security companies, primarily to prevent piracy and illegal fishing in their coastal waters. The article shows that while the turmoil in Somalia continues to offer lucrative investment opportunities for private security and military companies of various sorts, it cannot be uniformly concluded that private security always serves to weaken already fragile public authorities. On the contrary, in some cases the activities of private military companies have served to strengthen the power of local authorities. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract] |