Premium
Somalia and Yemen: The Links between Terrorism and State Failure
Author(s) -
Mantzikos Ioannis
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
digest of middle east studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.225
H-Index - 10
eISSN - 1949-3606
pISSN - 1060-4367
DOI - 10.1111/j.1949-3606.2011.00098.x
Subject(s) - somali , terrorism , premise , context (archaeology) , political science , state (computer science) , convergence (economics) , al qaeda , peninsula , scope (computer science) , political economy , phenomenon , politics , development economics , geography , sociology , law , economic growth , epistemology , computer science , economics , archaeology , philosophy , linguistics , algorithm , programming language
The scope of this study is to demonstrate that the failed state scheme of Somalia has not been and is not a safe haven for the al‐Qaeda, an issue that has been already displayed in Ken Menkhaus's excellent study (2004). Within this context, the article will consider the Somali Islamist political landscape in contrast and in relation to the current situation in Yemen, and thus, it aims to support the premise that weak states, such as Yemen, rather than “collapsed” states, can be incubators of international terrorism. In addition, while studying the interactions between Somalia and Yemen, we will attempt to answer some other important questions arising from this relationship: (1) does the emergence of al‐Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and al‐Shabaab have potential convergence; and (2) why is piracy a cross‐border phenomenon and how is it connected to radical Islamism?