Al J. Venter

Somalia (eBook, ePUB)

Unending Turmoil, Since 1975

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

A comprehensive analysis of the effects-and aftermath-of the Cold War in the Horn of Africa during an era of mass-produced AK-47s and ICBMs.

From a quiet Indian Ocean backwater that had once been an Italian colony, Somalia remained aloof from the kind of power struggles that beset countries like Ghana, the Congo, Guinea, Algeria and others in the 1970s. Overnight, that all changed in 1969 when the army, led by Major General Siad Barre, grabbed power. His first move was to abrogate all security links he might have had with the West and to invite Moscow into his country as an ally. But when Siad Barre invaded Ethiopia's Ogaden Province-Addis Ababa was then Washington's staunchest friend in Africa's Horn-the Soviets had had enough. To the consternation of the West, they abandoned Somalia and embraced Ethiopia, which resulted in the Russians giving full support in the Ogaden War to Addis Ababa and establishing the largest airlift of arms to an African country since the Six-Day War.

For more than a decade thereafter conditions within Somalia deteriorated. Various tribal leaders established themselves as "war lords," some with Soviet support, others getting succor from Western sources. It got so bad that in 1992 the United Nations eventually stepped in with Operation Restore Hope, a multinational force created for conducting humanitarian operations in Somalia. The move was always controversial with many tribal leaders retaining either clandestine Soviet links or receiving aid from radical Arab forces that included al-Qaeda. Though the United Nations and the African Union (AU) both maintain a strong presence in the country, hostilities-and killings-go on.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Pen & Sword Military
• Seitenzahl: 128
• Erscheinungstermin: 31. Januar 2020
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781526707963
• Artikelnr.: 49070633

Autorenporträt

Al J. Venter is a specialist military writer and has had 50 books published. He started his career with Geneva's Interavia Group, then owners of International Defence Review, to cover military developments in the Middle East and Africa. Venter has been writing on these and related issues such as guerrilla warfare, insurgency, the Middle East and conflict in general for half a century. He was involved with Jane's Information Group for more than 30 years and was a stringer for the BBC, NBC News (New York) as well as London's Daily Express and Sunday Express. He branched into television work in the early 1980s and produced more than 100 documentaries, many of which were internationally flighted. His one-hour film, 'Africa's Killing Fields' (on the Ugandan civil war), was shown nationwide in the United States on the PBS network. Other films include an hour-long program on the fifth anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, as well as 'AIDS: The African Connection', nominated for China's Pink Magnolia Award. His last major book was 'Portugal's Guerrilla Wars in Africa', nominated in 2013 for New York's Arthur Goodzeit military history book award. It has gone into three editions, including translation into Portuguese.