{"id":1146,"date":"2011-03-04T17:10:27","date_gmt":"2011-03-04T21:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/panorama\/"},"modified":"2014-05-21T13:28:41","modified_gmt":"2014-05-21T17:28:41","slug":"studying-somalia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/panorama\/archives\/spring-2006\/studying-somalia\/","title":{"rendered":"Studying Somalia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted May. 25\/06<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cFrom its earliest moments the operation went awry. The soldiers, with some notable exceptions, did their best. But ill-prepared and rudderless, they fell inevitably into the mire that became the Somalia debacle.\u201d<\/em> Report of the Somalia Commission of Enquiry.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Forces\u2019 participation in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Somalia in 1992-93 was, by most accounts, a disaster. Canadians remember the disgrace of the Airborne Regiment and the murder of civilians. But Grant Dawson, PhD\/03, a research fellow with the Centre for Security and Defence Studies in the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, sees more to the mission.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Grant Dawson, PhD\/03 (Photo: Chris Strangemore)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThousands of lives were saved because Canadians provided a period of stability during the civil war,\u201d says Dawson, a specialist on Canadian peace operations and post-war Canadian diplomatic and military history. \u201cIn addition to the civil conflict, there was a famine and a humanitarian crisis after the Somali state collapsed in 1991. Canadians helped alleviate that crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the number of humanitarian and security interventions into weak and failed states has continued to increase, it is crucial that we glean lessons from those attempted previously. When interventions do happen, the provision of basic security and social order is one of the most critical tasks.<\/p>\n

However, Somalia \u2014 with no recognized central government and still volatile more than 10 years later \u2014 has lessons to teach about the limitations of security-based peace building. Dawson is working on a comparative analysis of the international approach to failed state reconstruction in Somalia and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

His dissertation on the Canadian peacekeeping mission to Somalia will be published in fall 2006 by UBC Press as Here is Hell: Canada\u2019s Engagement in Somalia. In the book, Dawson examines Canadian government decision-making and its commitments to the Somalia peace operations, considering both the governmental and operational aspects of Canada\u2019s engagement in the United Nations and United States missions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Somalia operation, Canada adopted a cooperative approach. We wanted to motivate the Somalis to take the lead in rebuilding their state because if they didn\u2019t support and invest in the solution, the peace wouldn\u2019t last,\u201d says Dawson. \u201cThe military couldn\u2019t be in charge. Even in 1993, Canada\u2019s leaders in Somalia realized that sort of thinking was outdated. The Somalis needed to be running the process to invest in and make it sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the soldiers provided security, without the re-establishment of political institutions and development efforts, the peace couldn\u2019t last. Dawson points to two downfalls to the reconstruction effort: Canada and other nations weren\u2019t prepared to stay in Somalia for the long haul, and the Somalis, resentful of outside interference, failed to maximize the opportunity that outside security offered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe notion that the winning approach couldn\u2019t be only security-based was sound. Implementing it is a challenge that we continue to examine.\u201d<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Fast fact…<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Centre for Security and Defence Studies is internationally recognized for its advanced research; conference, workshop and guest lecture programs; graduate and undergraduate education; and public outreach programs on security and defence issues in the Ottawa community and across Canada.<\/p>\n

In 2006, its annual conference, After the Fall: Theory and Practice of Post-Intervention Security, examined the short-term security challenges that follow military interventions into foreign states. Dawson chaired the panel discussion on responding to local populations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted May. 25\/06 \u201cFrom its earliest moments the operation went awry. The soldiers, with some notable exceptions, did their best. But ill-prepared and rudderless, they fell inevitably into the mire that became the Somalia debacle.\u201d Report of the Somalia Commission of Enquiry. The Canadian Forces\u2019 participation in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Somalia in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":1114,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"yoast_head":"\nStudying Somalia - PAnorama<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Posted May. 25\/06 \u201cFrom its earliest moments the operation went awry. 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