Abukar Arman
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Articles by Abukar Arman
July 10, 2010
Understandably Ethiopia has certain security concerns; and these concerns should be addressed through the appropriate channels. It is in the best interest of Somalia to forge peace treaty reflecting national and regional security threats and the future economic opportunities with Ethiopia and other neighbors. However, Somalia should allow no foreign entities—states or non-states—to exploit its weak position and dictate their political wish-list to it or infringe in its sovereignty.
January 19, 2010
...the gravest of all the Palestinian sufferings is embodied in the suffering of the people of Gaza as they endure a vicious economic strangulation imposed by Israel's occupation. And despite widespread condemnation of that arguably egregious draconian policy, Israel continues to operate seemingly devoid of any conscience and without any consequences.
December 31, 2009
If there is any wisdom to be gained out of this young 21st century it has to do with the costly lesson that "hard power" (mainly military, technological, and economic) alone cannot sustain peace or political influence. Any effort intended for effective political problem-solving and conflict-resolution must be made of a mix that includes "soft power" (public diplomacy, humanitarian and development aid, strategic educational campaigns, political and/or economic pressure). China uses this latter approach to expand its political influence around the world.
September 11, 2009
Not since France´s banning of wearing the hijab or Islamic headwear in schools has institutional Islamophobia unveiled its ugly head under the spotlight of world attention.
In Florida, political pressure has caused the scale of justice to tilt.
The case of Rifqa Bary—a 17 year old Muslim...
August 13, 2009
Starting with his inauguration speech in which he stressed on the importance of relaxing the defensive posture so that the demonization process could stop. Following with his speech at the Turkish Parliament in which he offered the reassurance that neither the US nor the West is in war with the Muslim world. And concluding with his historic Cairo speech in which he highlighted the importance of mutual respect in order for genuine dialogue and understanding to take root.
However, the litmus test is how quickly certain unjust policies instituted after the tragic events of 9/11 are reversed, and how impartially America treats Muslims facing the justice system.
July 05, 2009
...the Somali political problem is escalating into a new phase of violent struggle. And unless the current momentum is significantly slowed, a longer lasting much bloodier sectarian war is bound to replace the old ones.
May 24, 2009
Once again there is interfactional violence in Mogadishu. Who are the actors? And what is at issue?
April 28, 2009
To adequately understand the piracy situation would require context beyond the illegal activities. Albeit, in the past eight years, America and much of the world were inculcated with an ill-advised notion that context is obsolete and that the official statement is all that matters in understanding complex issues such as extremism, terrorism and indeed piracy. It goes without saying that that mindset has not only failed to reduce or irradiate any of these ills, it, in fact, exacerbated them.
With that in mind, clearly missing out of the piracy discussion is a couple of critical factors: First, the importance of the Indian Ocean as a premier strategic region in light of the ´shifting economic balance of power from West to East´ and China´s rapidly expanding influence in Africa.
March 24, 2009
So how could such noble concept get so distorted? How come the robe-wearing extremists of the East and the suit-wearing extremists of the West are the ones who hold monopoly on the definition of Jihad?
March 01, 2009
Somalia has a new government that many consider to possess what it takes to spearhead sustainable peace and bring the lawlessness of the past two decades to an end. However, this article is not about that, or about the so-called Somali piracy.
This article is about mysteriously disappearing So...
February 06, 2009
Granted, the Somali political conundrum is multifaceted in nature. And, one of these facets and indeed most frequently cited element perpetuating Somalia´s violence and anarchy is the lack of good leadership capable of ensuring good governance.
After all, according to the official account, this ...
January 12, 2009
Hillel the Elder is a prominent figure in Jewish history. He is perhaps one of the most quoted Rabbis. One day, a man approached him with a challenge. "Teach me all the Torah while I stand on one leg," the man demanded. The Rabbi wisely responded "What is hateful to you, don't do unto others - that'...
January 03, 2009
By now, most of the world is aware of the horrific news of death and destruction that visited upon the people of Gaza. Millions have watched in utter shock the footage depicting Israel ´s indiscriminate and disproportionate bombing of Gaza.
This brutal military campaign that already took the l...
December 09, 2008
It was Dec 10, 1948 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Today this document is the most widely translated and perhaps the most referenced.
And as the international community and media around the world eagerly await the celebration of the 60t...
November 30, 2008
If you ever felt this whole saga of these invincible maritime desperadoes getting away with the most fantastic piracy operations along the Somali coast is so incredibly bizarre, you are not alone.
Regardless of what many media groups have sensationally been reporting, there is not enough info...
November 08, 2008
As America and indeed the rest of the world were counting down the last few days before a historic election, Somalia was hard-pressed to face another less promising replay of an old history; one destined to take it where no other sovereign state has ever gone before- to the oblivion!
Though...
October 27, 2008
In light of the development of several critical issues that include U.S. economic volatility and the new political direction it´s likely to turn towards, it´s not farfetched to predict that Washington-supported Ethiopian occupation of Somalia will soon come to an end.
Howeve...
September 23, 2008
While each has its distinctive history; like Anti-Semitism and racism, Islamophobia is a real phenomenon that cultivates hate among communities, stereotypes a whole group for the acts of a few, and justifies transgression against the innocent. And like the rest, Islamophobia was developed and is f...
August 10, 2008
No objective individual would disagree that the commonsensical approach to problem-solving is to first identify the problem, then tackle it at its source. Likewise, no reasonable individual would have difficulty understanding how any effort invested on treating symptoms at the expense of t...
June 24, 2008
Despite its shaky start, the UN-brokered Somali peace accord still has the potential to achieve a historical milestone. Two essential elements that were absent in the 14 previously failed peace conferences were prominent in this one. There were genuine peace-makers with considerable political capi...
April 15, 2008
Extremism is the root cause of the proliferation of violence throughout the world. It is the impetus pushing lawlessness, gluttonous greed and downright disregarding of human rights. It is a massive boulder blocking the path to peace.
Like in terrorism, there is an array of opinions dictating ...
April 30, 2007
The prospect of the ill-advised partnership between Meles Zenawi’s Ethiopia and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) ever solving the Somali problem is dead on arrival.
And though their ferocious military campaign has created a horrific carnage that the International Committee for Red Cro...
January 08, 2008
The report card is in, and the end of the year accumulative grade indicates miserable failure. Worsening conditions for the ailing nation of Somalia, costly quagmire for Ethiopia and political wild-goose chase that produced a new hotbed of Anti-Americanism in the Horn for the US.
So now is the ...
December 19, 2007
As the US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, was recently visiting American forces in Djibouti, the Washington Post was reporting how the Pentagon has been spearheading a seemingly dicey initiative to pressure Washington into recognizing the secessionist northwestern region of Somalia known as “Som...
December 04, 2007
By all standards, the situation unfolding in Somalia is horrifically grim, and according to the UN, it is the worst crisis in Africa; worse than the crisis in Darfur that outraged the world’s conscience in an unprecedented way.
However, unlike Darfur, Washington has a role in the creation of...
November 05, 2007
For almost two decades, the Somali political theatre was inundated with random episodes of tragic comedies that frustrated the average observer and fatigued donor countries that funded numerous failed projects to solve the Somali conundrum.
The drama generated by these episodes routinely blurre...
October 22, 2007
The daunting reality facing people of conscience is the seemingly impossible task of controlling propaganda in a free society, and how the protected freedom of the perpetrators increases the vulnerability of their potential victims.
In the past few years, while many good things happened to Musl...
September 19, 2007
The long bitter saga of DePaul University's scandalous decision to deny tenure to one of its most prolific and internationally renowned public intellectuals, Professor Norman Finkelstein, is officially over. But, not before bringing to light what some consider the most dangerous trend stifling intel...
July 21, 2007
As a beneficiary of the climate of hysteria and suspicion resulting from those heinous acts of terrorism that shock the world on 9/11, pseudo news outlets such as Front Page Magazine has been raised to prominence in certain Islamophobic circles.
They persistently preached their politics of hate...
July 06, 2007
It has been over four decades, 47 years to be exact, since Somalia became an independent nation, and the British and the Italian Somali-lands have united into one democratic nation- the first of its kind in Africa. In due course this budding nation would become Africa’s most dysfunctional, its first...
June 14, 2007
Just like all other actions, speaking the truth has its reaction and indeed price.
A few months ago, I was honored to join two Middle East experts-- Professor John Mueller and Professor John Quigley-- in a panel discussion on Jimmy Carter’s “controversial” book (Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid). ...
June 13, 2007
Modern day Somalia became a nation of profound paradox and a web of political conundrum- a country where perception is always reality; where the “mundane” is a cherished deadly thrill; where “new” political dynamics are nothing but old, and, where potential “solutions” are problems. But, that is not...
January 31, 2007
Analysts both in the Muslim and the Western world by and large agree that “fear” and lack of objective dialogue are the root cause of Islamophobia and Anti-Americanism. And while the debate on which one of the two ignited the other is still ongoing, one fact remains irrefutable: more people were ...