The role of religion in conflict and management: the case of Somalia, 1999 - 2012

Abstract

Somalia is a country that has experienced conflict for more than two decades. It has had state fragility, proliferation of small arms, conflict between clans and recently conflict by Islamist movements. Religion has been used in the conflict in Somalia not only t manage violence but also to escalate it. The emergence of Islamist movements also had led to further inclusion of the country in the global jihadist list. Moreover, despite various efforts to manage the conflict, not much has been done with relation to eliminating the groups. In fact conventional, military efforts have been seen to contribute further in the conflict. This has also seen the inclusion of foreign Islamist participating in the Somali conflict; and a as result counter-terrorist measures further complicated the issue. The use of religion in the Somali conflict has further shown how radicalization can further escalate a conflict. This thesis therefore was able to explain this factor further. The study concludes that religion is not necessarily the cause of conflict in Somalia, currently. But rather it has been used as an instrument of conflict and as such it can also be used for the management of the same conflict in order to attain sustainable peace.