The International Community’s Role in the Radicalization of Islamist Politics in Somalia, 1992 to 1995: The Creation of the Security Dilemma

In December 1992, the United Nations Security Council, acting under chapter 7 of its charter, authorized the use of all necessary means to secure the delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Somalia. In the collapsing landscape of that country, however, the intervention of the international community triggered the rise of radical Islamic actors. This result was not simply a product of diplomatic incompetence but an indirect result of the foreign community’s different perspectives and aims during the crisis. This essay attempts to draw conclusions from the political economy of the crisis to address the rise of the local Islamist movement with the use of security dilemma theory