A Modern History of the Somali by I.M. Lewis and The Invention of Somalia edited by Ali Jimale Ahmed

For the past three decades, Somalia has stood as a living counterargument to the idea of teleological progress. Once a standard example of authoritarian modernization in the developing world, the collapse of the military dictatorship of Siad Barre plunged the country into a state of ungoverned violence from which it has yet to emerge. Somalia does today have a central government, but its writ extends little beyond the capital and is contested even there. The gorgeous Italianate ruins of prewar-Mogadishu stand as a sad testament to the peaceful and stable society that once existed.

I have a personal interest in Somalia which has led to me try and learn as much about it as I could over the years. I recently read two books about the country, one a definitive orientalist account called “A Modern History of the Somali” by the British scholar I.M. Lewis, and the other a popular set of essays by native Somali experts called “The Invention of Somalia.” Instead of summarizing both these books I will give a brief primer on what they tell us about this nation, its background, and its prospects.

The origins of the Somali people are somewhat mysterious. They had a predominantly oral culture that was not standardized into script until the 1960s. Much of what does exist before that has been passed down as a blend of fact with mythological lore. What we can say with confidence is that modern Somali identity is very closely intertwined with the early emergence of Islam, and the first arrivals of Arab and Persian settlers on the Somali coast. In terms of identity being Muslim and being Somali are thus inextricably related. The major Somali tribes all notionally trace their history to a legendary Arab or Persian ancestor who was believed to have married into the local culture and then created a lineage that became indigenously Somali. The Darod tribe for instance traces its background to Sheikh Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, an Arab who was believed to be from the same tribe as the Prophet Muhammad and whose shrine in the northern territory of Somaliland still stands today. The sense of being a mixture of Arab and African while fully neither continues to exist in Somali identity today and also gives rise to a proud sense of distinctness and even xenophobia. Over the years Somalis have given birth to many legendary figures who have been praised for fighting against perceived enemies at home and abroad, including the medieval Ahmed Gran, who conquered much of neighboring Ethiopia, and Syed Hassan Abdille, a militant Sufi Dervish leader who fought the British and was famously dubbed by them, “The Mad Mullah.” While British colonialism chafed many Somalis, the Italian period was a relatively harmonious one. It has also left a lasting cultural influence, reflected in part through culinary tastes that often have a surprising Italian influence.

Despite broad consensus about Somali ethnicity, the strong persistence of tribal identity among Somalis is one of the factors that has made it difficult for them to coalesce as a functional state. The nation-state itself is built upon an idea of eradicating or co-opting all sub-national political identities but those ideas remain strong in Somalia. Siad Barre tried to marginalize tribalism after coming to power in a military coup, aiming to turn Somalia into a fully-modernized “Marxist-Islamist” satellite of the Soviet Bloc complete with a cult of personality and national sports days modelled on North Korea. Barre was a typical modernizing dictator who codified the Somali script and mandated universal education, even while building a fearsome police state apparatus to suppress political dissent. To his credit he spoke out against tribalism and called on people to view themselves as Somalis alone. But in the later days of his regime, Barre himself fell back on his own Marehan tribe for loyalty and began making personnel appointments with tribal considerations in mind. When he went to war against internal enemies the tribal factor in his decision-making was an object of intense suspicion. In the end, the Somali state died in the 1990s, along with Barre, but the tribes lived.

“The Invention of Somalia” takes the issue of tribalism very personally, written as it is by Somali intellectuals. In one pointed essay from that volume it is stated that without a change in the perspective of ordinary Somalis to view themselves as members of an impersonal nation rather than as a constellation of acrimonious clans, their current period of turmoil will be indefinite. Modernization theory does tell us that functioning states can’t really emerge until other identities are eradicated, though I hope that creative solutions involving less violence can be found in the future.

Somalia is a relatively big country but in the minds of its people it is only a shadow of its true self. The five-starred flag of Somali is a gesture to widespread irredentist nationalist ambitions that Siad Barre himself tried to realize by force during repeated wars to annex parts of Ethiopia. The northern territory of Somaliland, which today is happily stable and even quasi-independent, was once a full province of Somalia but broke off on its own after successfully resisting Barre’s repression. The Ogaden region of Kenya likewise is home to many Somalis and is considered part of Greater Somalia, or “Somaliweyn” in local parlance, along with the territory of Djibouti. A combination of British, Italian, and French colonialism helped carve the Somali people up into many different borders though many still dream of uniting them as one. Since the civil war, Somalia has also gained a global diaspora of millions, many of whom now live in neighboring countries and Western states. There are only about 15 million Somali people total across the world, which is surprising because they punch above their weight in terms of cultural awareness and influence.

Somalia’s modern history has been a tragic one and many Somalis still talk about the 1990s simply as “the catastrophe” that wrenched them from their formerly happy lives. The global diaspora itself has increasingly tenuous links with their country, which many of them have never even visited. History however is a long journey and it is cyclical for all peoples, Somalis included. Somalia has been gifted with Africa’s biggest coastline and a demonstrably talented population who still have the capacity to bring their country back into a new era of stability. As long as the nation and its identity exists there will be reason to hope that Somalia can regain its former hopefulness. When it does it will be in a position to contribute much as a nation that culturally bridges the gap between Africa and the Arab world like no other