Insurgent Fragmentation in the Horn of Africa

Michael Woldemariam is an Assistant Professor of international relations at Boston University's Pardee School of Global Studies. His research focuses on the dynamics of armed conflict, the behavior of rebel organizations, and post-conflict institution building. He has special expertise on the Horn of Africa region, where he has travelled extensively. His research has been published in Terrorism and Political Violence, the Journal of Strategic Studies, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, and is forthcoming in a number of edited volumes, and he has been a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Bradley Foundation, the Truman National Security Project, and a research specialist with the Innovations for Successful Societies program at Princeton University.

Part I. Theory and Concepts: 1. Organized rebellion and its intractable problem; 2. A theory of rebel fragmentation; Part II. Rebellion in Ethiopia and Eritrea: 3. The Eritrean Liberation Front: 'Jebha' in action, 1960–1982; 4. The Eritrean People's Liberation Front: 'Shaebia' in action, 1972–1991; 5. The second wave of rebellion: Tigrayans, Oromos, Afars, and Somalis, 1975–2008; Part III. Rebel Fragmentation in the Broader Horn: 6. The long war in Somalia: the Somali National Movement, Islamic Courts Union, and Harakat al-Shabaab al Mujahidin, 1981–2013; 7. Concluding thoughts.