From Irredentism to State Disintegration: Greater Somalia during Siad Barre Regime (1969-1991)

Abstract

‘Greater Somalia’ refers to the union of the five regions inhabited by Somali people under the same state. For decades, and especially since colonization, this idea has tried to unify the different Somali peoples in the Horn of Africa: Italian Somalia, British Somalia, the small enclave of Djibouti, the Ogaden and Haud (under Ethiopian rule) and the Northeast border of Kenya. The pansomalist objective has never been fulfilled despite Mogadishu's repeated attempts to integrate all these territories. The last attempt was the so-called war of the Ogaden (1977-1978) driven by the dictator Mohammed Siad Barre, who was defeated. Despite the disaster, the dream of Greater Somalia has remained active for several years. However, the fall of Siad Barre in 1991 and the disintegration of the state of Somalia erased at one stroke the pansomalist aspirations. Finally, the purpose of this article is to analyze the unifying aspirations of Somalia from the Ogaden War to its total disintegration and the strategies promoted by this government until its fall in 1991. The Research methods includes the analysis of historic resources, such as the Constitutions of Somalia and different previous articles and books related to this topic.