Somali unity was always an illusion. In 1960, the former British Somaliland joined with Italian-colonized regions to form on paper what, after a few name changes, became known as Somalia. In practice, though, it was a country of regions where local authority often trumped national unity. Cold War-era dictator Siad Barre sought to impose unity by force but his repression only condemned Somalia’s already weak state to failure and, after 1991, collapse.
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