Jewish state in Saudi Arabia proposed in 1917

A Russian Jewish doctor in Paris asked the British government to gather an army to seize eastern Arabia land for a Jewish national home, a month before Balfour declaration backed the idea.

World Bulletin / News Desk

A letter to the British ambassador to France in 1917 proposed a Jewish state in modern-day Saudi Arabia, documents released by the British Library show.

Dr. M. L. Rothstein, a self-described ‘Russian medical doctor’ of Jewish origin based in Paris, wrote to Ambassador Francis Bertie on September 12 ‘for the conquest of the Turkish province of El Hassa (Hasa)’.

Al-Hasa is an oasis region in eastern Arabia.

Bertie explained to then Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour that Rothstein proposed the Entente Powers (Russia, France and the UK) should organize an army to carve out ‘a Jewish State on the Persian Gulf’.

Rothstein was serious about his proposal and laid out his action plan in the letter.

‘I undertake to assemble, for next spring, a Jewish fighting troop, a force of 120,000 strong men’ which would double ‘in cooperation… with the troops of the Entente,’ he said.

The troops would concentrate in Bahrain and once they reached 30,000, a ‘coup de main’ (swift attack) would follow, taking the ‘Turkish province of Al Hassa, near the Persian Gulf.’

It would then ‘become a Jewish State (un État juif)’, Rothstein suggested.

He predicted a ‘state of war’ with Turkey due to the invasion and said that ‘the Jewish troops will immediately enter into a campaign… until the final victory of the Entente or until their destruction.’

MYSTERIOUS DOCTOR

Little is known about the Russian doctor. He started his letter with his family’s ‘moral qualities’, an explanation of his roots in Jewish patriotism.

Thomas Holderness of the British Library’s India Office said Al-Hasa had ceased to be a Turkish province when Rothstein wrote the letter, suggesting he might be out of touch with the realities on the ground.

A response letter by Balfour’s assistant in October showed that the British government rejected the proposal outright.

‘His Majesty’s government regret that they cannot give effect to his proposals,”said the reply.

A month later, Balfour issued his now-famed declaration that threw the Kingdom’s support for the idea of establishing a ‘national home for the Jewish people in what was Palestine.

The documents are from the India Office Records held at the British Library. They are being digitized, along with others relating to the history of the Gulf, as part of the Library’s partnership with the Qatar Foundation.

Jewish state in Saudi Arabia proposed in 1917

A Russian Jewish doctor in Paris asked the British government to gather an army to seize eastern Arabia land for a Jewish national home, a month before Balfour declaration backed the idea.

World Bulletin / News Desk

A letter to the British ambassador to France in 1917 proposed a Jewish state in modern-day Saudi Arabia, documents released by the British Library show.

Dr. M. L. Rothstein, a self-described ‘Russian medical doctor’ of Jewish origin based in Paris, wrote to Ambassador Francis Bertie on September 12 ‘for the conquest of the Turkish province of El Hassa (Hasa)’.

Al-Hasa is an oasis region in eastern Arabia.

Bertie explained to then Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour that Rothstein proposed the Entente Powers (Russia, France and the UK) should organize an army to carve out ‘a Jewish State on the Persian Gulf’.

Rothstein was serious about his proposal and laid out his action plan in the letter.

‘I undertake to assemble, for next spring, a Jewish fighting troop, a force of 120,000 strong men’ which would double ‘in cooperation… with the troops of the Entente,’ he said.

The troops would concentrate in Bahrain and once they reached 30,000, a ‘coup de main’ (swift attack) would follow, taking the ‘Turkish province of Al Hassa, near the Persian Gulf.’

It would then ‘become a Jewish State (un État juif)’, Rothstein suggested.

He predicted a ‘state of war’ with Turkey due to the invasion and said that ‘the Jewish troops will immediately enter into a campaign… until the final victory of the Entente or until their destruction.’

MYSTERIOUS DOCTOR

Little is known about the Russian doctor. He started his letter with his family’s ‘moral qualities’, an explanation of his roots in Jewish patriotism.

Thomas Holderness of the British Library’s India Office said Al-Hasa had ceased to be a Turkish province when Rothstein wrote the letter, suggesting he might be out of touch with the realities on the ground.

A response letter by Balfour’s assistant in October showed that the British government rejected the proposal outright.

‘His Majesty’s government regret that they cannot give effect to his proposals,”said the reply.

A month later, Balfour issued his now-famed declaration that threw the Kingdom’s support for the idea of establishing a ‘national home for the Jewish people in what was Palestine.

The documents are from the India Office Records held at the British Library. They are being digitized, along with others relating to the history of the Gulf, as part of the Library’s partnership with the Qatar Foundation.

Ethiopian FM arrives in Egypt for Sisi's inauguration

Relations between Egypt and Ethiopia soured last year over Ethiopia's construction of a $6.4-billion hydroelectric dam on the upper reaches of the Nile River.

World Bulletin / News Desk

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom arrived in Cairo early Saturday, leading a high-level delegation to attend the inauguration of Egypt's president-elect Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday.

The top Ethiopian diplomat and his accompanying delegation arrived aboard an Ethiopian Airlines plane on the first visit to Egypt in a year, Cairo Airport sources said.

Al-Sisi, a former army chief, was declared the winner of Egypt's recent presidential election, in which he clinched almost 97 percent of the vote, according to Egypt's election commission.

Egypt's army-installed interim presidency has invited 22 countries – 16 of whom have already confirmed their attendance – to the inauguration ceremony in Cairo, according to a well-placed source.

A reliable Ethiopian source told Anadolu Agency on Thursday that he expects the Foreign Minister's visit to improve strained ties between the two countries.

Relations between Cairo and Addis Ababa soured last year over Ethiopia's construction of a $6.4-billion hydroelectric dam on the upper reaches of the Nile River.

The project has raised alarm bells in Egypt, which relies on the river for almost all of its water needs.

Water distribution among Nile Basin states has long been regulated by a colonial-era treaty that gives Egypt and Sudan the lion's share of river water. Ethiopia, for its part, says it has never recognized the treaty.

Turkey's candidacy for UN Security Council 'valuable'

Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey will add to peace and security efforts with its application for non-permanent membership.

World Bulletin / News Desk

Turkey will provide significant added value to global peace and security when its candidacy for non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council is approved, Turkey's Foreign Minister has said.

Speaking at a joint press conference with President of Kiribati, Anote Tong, on Saturday, Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey's application for membership came during an era of critical and rapid change in international affairs.

He said: "Turkey plays a constructive role regarding all issues on the U.N. agenda and, therefore, attaches special importance to undertaking active duties and responsibilities within the UN system and other international organizations."

His comments came as the two leaders, accompanied by a number of ministers and high-level officials, were attended a meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Turkey and the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) in Istanbul.

President Tong voiced his support for Turkey's candidacy and said he was content with initiatives Turkey had undertaken in the Pacific region.

'Key milestone'

Hosted by Davutoglu, the weekend meeting was held under the theme: “From Bosphorus to the Pacific: Continued Cooperation for Sustainable Development” in order to draw attention to the environmental, economic and social challenges faced by the countries, the limited resources they possessed to meet them and to discuss face-to-face what could be done in solidarity with the Pacific countries.

Pointing out that the meeting was a follow-up to the Turkey-Pacific Islands Ministers of Foreign Affairs Meeting hosted by Turkey in April 2008, Davutoglu said the meeting was well-timed to take stock of relations and draw a "road map" for the future.

He said: "Turkey has been expanding its foreign policy horizons including the Pacific. The meeting in 2008 was a key milestone in our relations with the Pacific.

"In the last six years we have taken important steps in terms of enhancing our bilateral cooperation as well as our institutional ties with the Pacific Islands Forum."

He said a Joint Declaration on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations with the Pacific island country of Niue was signed at the meeting.

"With Niue added, we have diplomatic relations with all Pacific Island Forum countries," he said.

'Valuable opportunity'

Turkey is determined to establish a permanent embassy in the Pacific island countries, Davutoglu said, adding they would also support efforts to establish an embassy in Turkey representing the Pacific countries.

Turkey's initiatives in the region include more high-level contacts, enhanced development assistance and cooperation in the framework of regional platforms, Davutoglu said.

He added that it was a valuable opportunity to carry Turkey's bilateral and multilateral cooperation further on issues such as economic relations, development assistance and climate change.

The Turkish FM underlined that the UN had declared 2014 as "the International Year of Small Island Developing States", adding: "We know they have made important efforts nationally and regionally to incorporate sustainable development principles."

He expressed solidarity with the government and people of the Solomon Islands in the face of the recent flood disaster.

"We will continue to work in solidarity with the Government of Solomon Islands and other disaster relief partners," he said.

'Tangible commitment'

Referring to the efforts of the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency, TIKA, in the Pacific Island countries, he said their work was Turkey's most tangible commitment to sustainable development.

The total amount of Turkey's assistance to the region exceeded $5.24 million in 2012, up from $1.8 million Dollars in 2011, he said.

Following the meeting, a number of memorandums of understanding were signed between Turkey and the Pacific Island countries to develop cooperation.

The Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) include the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Micronesia, Marshal Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Source: World Bulletin 

SOMALIA: Turkish warships arrive in Mogadishu [In Pictures]

Four Turkish warships on Thursday docked at the Port of Mogadishu on one-day visit to Somalia as part of its current African tour on the Indian Ocean coastline.

Welcoming the crew of the Turkish Maritime Task Group Barbaros (TMTG), Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud paid tribute to the Turkish aid and development contributions in his country.

“Turkey has shown remarkable support to Somalia during a time where the world seemed to have forgotten about us,” Mohamoud told a press conference on board of TCG Gediz frigate.

“The friendship and support Turkey has shown is something that will be forever cherished.”

Turkish Ambassador to Somalia Kani Torun, for his part, said Turkey would continue to offer aid to Somalia through Turkish agencies.

He said these agencies work day and night in Mogadishu and other Somali provinces with the aim of offering aid to the people of Somalia.

At the end of the conference, the Turkish navy offered a shipment of medical aid dedicated to the Somali people.

The welcoming ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed as well as a host of other senior government officials.

The Task Group comprises of two frigates, a corvette and a replenishment tanker.

The Turkish warships are on a 102-day tour, which will cover 15,000 nautical miles and include 27 countries. It is scheduled to wrap up on June 27.

The warships passed by the Cape of Good Hope earlier in May for the first time in nearly 150 years.

The Turkish navy last crossed the Cape of Good Hope 148 years ago with two Ottoman corvettes, which were in charge of guarding Ottoman pilgrims.

Since then the Suez Canal has been the preferred route.

 

Source: Agencies

Drillers interested in Somalia, despite political instability

Somalian Hydrocarbon Potential Remains to Be Explored Amid Political Instability, says GlobalData Analyst

 

 

By BOB DOWNING 

From GlobalData today:

LONDON, UK (GlobalData), 5 June 2014 - Somalia’s upstream oil and gas industry will benefit from greater investor confidence and undergo subsequent growth in the years to come, if the Somalian government provides the political stability, security and infrastructure required for large-scale upstream development, according to an analyst with research and consulting firm GlobalData.

John Sisa, Lead Upstream Analyst for GlobalData, says that after emerging from two decades of civil war and establishing a central government, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, president of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS), now has one eye on the promise of petro-revenues and another on establishing authority over the regional governments.

However, while one of the first actions taken by the FGS was to declare the illegality of all oil and gas contracts signed by the regional governments, Sisa believes that the potential growth of Somalia’s oil and gas industry depends highly on a cooperative definition of the Somali Petroleum Law between both sides.

The analyst says: “A degree of contract sanctity will be viewed positively by the industry with respect to active contract holders, but a working relationship between the federal and regional governments is crucial for this.

“Recently, the Somaliland government granted consent to Sterling Energy to acquire a 40% interest in the production sharing agreement (PSA) covering Block SL6 and part of Blocks SL7 and SL10 from Petrosoma and Jacka Resources. This transaction’s approval will be a test of the sovereignty of the FGS’s new federal constitution, since the FGS was not consulted over this.”

Currently, Genel Energy holds interests in two PSAs covering five blocks in Somaliland, while Africa Oil holds exploration interests in two PSAs for two blocks in Puntland. The central government plans to sign at least 30 production-sharing contracts by the end of 2014, which will replace these and all other existing contracts.

Sisa continues: “Based on the Somali draft PSA, the central government will collect a share of revenues between 55% and 60%, if at least 50 million barrels of crude oil recoverable reserves are discovered. This will equate to a substantial return for the government.

“However, Somalia’s governmental authority remains fragile, and existing local clan militias, Al-Shaabab Islamists and pirates could interfere or attempt to assert control over hydrocarbon resources. This would result in increased uncertainty, higher risk and delays to exploration in the region.”

The analyst believes that a successful resolution of the pressing issues between the FGS and Somaliland governments will help to increase political stability and security, and therefore encourage further investment in the region’s oil and gas exploration industry. Only once this is achieved will upstream development be able to commence.

-ENDS-

The United States and Somaliland Collaborate On Wind Energy Project to Power Hargeisa Egal International Airport

Windmills set to supply Egal airport with sufficient powere sourced from renewable energy

 The Hargeisa based Egal International Airport is to start utilizing wind power. This development follows the official launch by the Somaliland president Ahmed Mahmud Silanyo of project funded by the USAID and implemented by the Program for Economic Growth at the Egal Airport in Hargeisa.

"I extend my thanks to the donors and implementers of this project which shall help minimize the use of electricity provided by diesel powered generators as is the norm now" said president Silanyo at the function at Egal airport.

Pledging his administration's support towards projects with the objective of availing renewable energy sources the head of state said that the proper use of the 12 months of Sunshine in the country as well as abundant wind could spearhead much needed economic growth and help create jobs.

According to the president these five wind energy facilities which are geared towards meeting the total power needs of Egal the country's main international airport are to be followed by similar four additional wind energy facilities in Las Anod where they are expected to create jobs for local residents as well as provide sufficient and cheap electricity.

The official launch of the renewable energy project at Egal airport was witnessed by various dignitaries from USAID, the government, Parliament among others.

Listen to the president Silanyo speech at the launch

Through its Partnership for Economic Growth program the USAID has also facilitated the drafting of an energy law in partnership with the Somaliland Ministry of energy and mineral.

According to the Minister of Energy and Minerals Eng Hussein Abdi Duale Electricity rates in Somaliland are high due to a disjointed network of independent providers that have their own grid and use unreliable, dilapidated equipment adding that the city loses nearly 40% of its electricity due to technical problems and antiquated materials.

The draft law and regulations are expected to establish the right conditions for growth in the energy sector, with a focus on expanding reliable, efficient and affordable electricity services, powered by both conventional and alternative sources that would help promote investment in the Somaliland economy.

Both Somali and international legal and energy experts helped develop the law, ensuring that it reflects local aspirations and is consistent with international best practices.

Source: santamarta-florez.blogspot.com.es

Are Poor Countries and Rich Countries Exactly Alike? No, They’re Not.

 

The government of Somaliland, a state that is not recognized as sovereign by the international community, is, unlike many extremely poor countries, almost entirely dependent on local tax revenues, and so, according to Eubank, it has had little choice but to develop inclusive, representative, and accountable political institutions.

By Reihan Salam

Earlier this week, I wrote a column for Slate making the case for work requirements for able-bodied recipients of cash welfare, and more broadly for making a distinction between those women and men who do what they can, consistent with their skill level and life circumstances, to support themselves and those who do not. My premise, drawing on Amy Wax’s work on “conditional reciprocity,” is that while society ought to do everything it can to help those who are doing what they can close the gap between what they are capable of earning and what they need to maintain a decent standard of living, society’s obligation is not as great for those who choose not to work despite having the ability to do so. I believe in this idea of conditional reciprocity even if it entails devoting more resources to anti-poverty efforts than if we simply disbursed funds to all individuals, regardless of whether or not they work or are seeking work consistent with their abilities. Suffice it to say, my moralistic argument was not universally embraced.
Yet I should note that there is an evidence-based case for what I call “no-strings-attached” money. It happens that this case rests upon outcomes in the world’s most impoverished countries. Dylan Matthews of Vox helpfully brings this evidence to light, yet he also conflates two quite different issues:

As solutions to global poverty go, “just give poor people money” is pretty rock solid. A recent randomized trial found that Kenyans who received no-strings attached cash from the charity GiveDirectly built more assets, bought more goods, were less hungry, and were all-around happier than those who didn’t get cash.
But voters and politicians generally prefer giving people specific goods — like housing, food, or health care — rather than plain old cash, for fear that the cash might get misused by unscrupulous poor people. Maybe the recipients will just blow the cash drinking! This particular concern comes up both in domestic and global poverty conversations; Fox News is obsessed with the possibility of people using federal government benefits like food stamps to buy fancy seafood or hang out at strip clubs, but mainstream global development experts often express these concerns too. As Paul Niehaus, the founder of GiveDirectly, once put it, “It is pretty ironic the number of conversations I have had with development people about the poor and their drinking—over drinks.”

The trouble is that there is a big difference between the conditions that give rise to poverty in a domestic context, where brute survival is not generally at stake, and in a global context, where it is. My argument rested in large part on the legitimacy of the welfare state. Work requirements for the able-bodied poor help ensure that the beneficiaries of public assistance are perceived as deserving. This matters in societies in which a broad base of employed middle-income taxpayers help finance transfers. It matters less in societies in which transfers are largely funded by outsiders, via government-to-government transfers from affluent countries, or through the exploitation of point-source natural resources, like oil and gas.

As Nicholas Eubank has observed, historians of state formation in early modern Europe have long seen the rise of the representative state as the result of a compromise between autocratic governments that needs tax revenues to finance military conflict and other endeavors and citizens who were only willing to consent to taxation in exchange for greater responsiveness from the state. The government of Somaliland, a state that is not recognized as sovereign by the international community, is, unlike many extremely poor countries, almost entirely dependent on local tax revenues, and so, according to Eubank, it has had little choice but to develop inclusive, representative, and accountable political institutions.

In weak states that aren’t funded by local tax revenues, the “legitimacy” question doesn’t arise in the same way, particularly when it comes to the disbursement of public assistance. The communities that benefit from direct assistance aren’t divided between those who fund direct assistance, and who work, and those who benefit from it, and who might or might not work. Rather, it is more common that the funds are coming from outside of the community, and virtually everyone “works,” albeit in the informal sector. That said, norms around “conditional reciprocity” do indeed obtain in many poor societies — but these norms operate through the kin-based social networks that the dominant mode of social organization in traditional societies.

Modern societies, in contrast, are dominated by non-kin-based social networks, and the most successful states, or rather the states that do the best job of cultivating solidarity among citizens, appear to be, and this is my subjective judgment, those that build in norms of conditional reciprocity into their institutions.

Rising global food prices set off alarm bells

June 4, 2014 by Alex Erquicia in Global Economy.

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Global food prices have increased by 4% in the first four months of the year, putting an end to the declining trend of prices since August 2012. The grim reality has put pressure on theWorld Bank to set off alarm bells in its latest edition of Food Price Watch. “It is quite likely that we will experience more food riots in the foreseeable future – that is, if the world continues to have high and volatile food prices,” writes José Cuesta, senior economist at the multilateral institution in a recent blog post.

Prices of wheat and maize (corn) sharply increased between January and April 2014 — of 18% and 12%, respectively – due to growing weather concerns and mounting import demand. Among the worrisome causes of the price increases is that they took place despite continued projections of record grain harvests, stronger stocks expected in 2014, and 2013 bumper crops, warns the Bank. Internationally traded food prices in April 2014 remain 2% lower than in April 2013, and just 16% below their historical peak in August 2012, the report says:

Domestic prices remained mostly stable between January and April 2014, but saw typical fluctuations between countries. For example, monitored markets in Ukraine, Ethiopia, Sudan and Kyrgyzstan saw some of the largest wheat price increases, while in Argentina and Pakistan, prices decreased. Maize prices went up the most in countries such as Ukraine and Russia, but went down markedly in Mozambique. Rice prices increased in Myanmar and Somalia, but declined in Thailand and Cambodia.

The thematic section of the new report discusses an issue that has been around for decades and that is likely to take a greater global presence in the near future: the role that food prices and food shortages may have in sparking social unrest. Dozens of violent episodes erupted across the world during the food price hikes of 2007 and 2008 though what some observers and experts expect to come could be much worse. The close relationship between food insecurity and conflict will be as present — and threatening — as ever. “Over the next few months, we must watch these prices carefully, making sure that any further increases do not put additional pressure on the least well-off around the world, said Ana Revenga, Acting Vice-President for the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network of the World Bank Group:

Increasing empirical evidence shows that international food prices and the domestic pass through to local markets of these international prices has a significant role in all types of conflict, from interstate wars to civil wars, regime breakdowns, and communal violence. Food price shocks may cause spontaneous and largely urban sociopolitical instability, with urban food consumers as the primary protesters. In these cases, price shocks can trigger sociopolitical unrest, fueling preexisting grievances—including poverty and other disparities—and highlighting the lack of adequate social safety nets and other compensating policies. This is the case, for example, with protests in Guinea and Mauritania in 2007 and Haiti in 2008.

Looking ahead, uncertainties around the world put upward pressures on prices and could be driven by many factors that are enumerated in the report: weather in the United States and, more globally, El Niño, and a hypothetical escalation of geopolitical tensions in Ukraine. Even more haunting is that the bidirectional connection between food and war is here to stay.

Time for Better Coordination Against al Shabaab

Ugandan peacekeeping troops stand during a ceremony at Mogadishu airport in Somalia, May 18, 2014. (Feisal Omar/Courtesy Reuters)

by Guest Blogger for John Campbell 

This is a guest post by Alex Dick-Godfrey, program coordinator, Studies administration for the Council on Foreign Relations Studies Program.

Last month, in the wake of the kidnapping of the schoolgirls from Chibok in Nigeria by the Islamist organization Boko Haram, President Francois Hollande of France convened a security summit in Paris. Heads of state from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger attended. The main result was the creation of a “central intelligence platform,” which will serve as a place for West African nations to coordinate their responses to Boko Haram. The United States and its partners in the Horn of Africa should endeavor to copy a form of this strategy to counter al Shabaab in the Horn.

Despite some insinuations to the contrary, al Shabaab remains a serious threat to stability in the Horn, and it has started to undertake a more international campaign, employing shocking attacks. These attacks began with the 2010 bombings in Uganda, continued with attempted bombings in Ethiopia, peaked with the audacious Westgate Mall attack in Kenya, and recently included a well-planned attack on the Somali Parliament building. Sensationalist attacks are likely to continue and will extend beyond Somalia, as they did to Djibouti last week. As previous al Shabaab strongholds in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region are continually lost to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forces’ advance, the group will likely become even more desperate.

The fight against al Shabaab is already an international effort, which includes AMISOM, the United Nations (UN), and U.S. assistance to the Somali Federal Government. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which is the Eastern Africa trading bloc, sent troops into Somalia in 2006 before a UN Security Council resolution replaced the IGAD force. The United Kingdom has also held several conferences focused on discussing stability in Somalia.

But in its present form this international response to al Shabaab has been ineffective. Theconflict continues to leak out of the operational jurisdiction of AMISOM, and into countries that will rightfully protect themselves. After a series of attacks by al Shabaab, Kenya started a draconian counterterrorism campaign called “Operation Usalama.” It includes forced internment, mass deportations, and other human rights abuses against Somali refugees and Kenyans that are ethnically Somali. At best this is counterproductive, and at worst it creates new recruits for al Shabaab within Kenya and Somalia. Similarly, Ethiopia has repeatedly intervened in Somalia to eradicate al Shabaab, which has exacerbated resentment among Somalis.

The problem is that these countries’ domestic counterterrorism strategies are reactionary, nearsighted, and counterproductive to what is needed regionally to defeat what has become an international terror group. These countries do not operate in a vacuum, and should recognize that their domestic actions have consequences across the region. A new platform is needed to better coordinate responses and share intelligence.

This is not a novel concept. Kenya and Somalia agreed to start sharing intelligence more effectively after the attack on Westgate, but the agreement didn’t include any of the other international partners involved in Somalia. Also, for whatever reason, it currently isn’t working.

To assist, the United States might lead an international cooperation effort in East Africa to create a platform for intelligence sharing and the dissemination of best practices in tactics, similar to what was proposed to counter Boko Haram. Moreover, there should be greater emphasis on ensuring that domestic counterterrorism strategies are not driving greater support to al Shabaab. U.S. involvement would give the platform legitimacy and would allow the United States to share its own intelligence. It would also allow for increased cooperation across all actors currently operating in Somalia.

This is, indeed, a tall order, and one that none of the countries are likely to enjoy as each have their own interests in Somalia. But the United States and Somalia’s neighbors should keep this in mind: large amounts of troops and material are not currently designated to counter al Shabaab, and the threat isn’t going away. To effectively counter al Shabaab, there needs to be better coordination and use of the resources currently available.