USA Today quotes Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham on the significance of Secretary of State John Kerry’s stop in Somalia:
J. Peter Pham, director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council in Washington, said Kerry’s stop in Somalia “is a political necessity” during a visit to neighboring Kenya. Kerry and others in the Obama administration have referred to their multinational approach in Somalia as a successful model for U.S. intervention, but the results are still far from conclusive, Pham said.
While security has improved, Somalia is still unstable and legitimate local governance is spotty, he said. In fact, the State Department in November canceled participating in a donor conference for Somalia in Denmark, citing “political division” among Somali leaders.