Role of Military Intervention in Conflict Situations: A Case Study of Somalia

The general objective of this study is to determine the role of military intervention in conflict situations: A Case Study of Somalia. Specifically, the study was to: one, establish the influence of military intervention in peace enforcement in Somalia; two, examine the influence of military intervention in facilitating humanitarian assistance in Somalia and three to explore the influence of military intervention in peace building in Somalia. This study was an analysis of the literature. Secondary data was obtained from analysis and review of books, academic journals, existing papers and other available literature on the topic under study. The data was analyzed using content analysis. The results were presented under identified themes. On the military intervention in peace enforcement literature; the study discussed the concept of peace enforcement; and then analyzed a number of military interventions in peace enforcement missions around the world, for instance, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Former Yugoslavia, Haiti, Kosovo, Somalia. On military intervention in humanitarian assistance literature, the concept of Responsibility to Protect was discussed. The study analysed the case studies of military intervention in humanitarian assistance in countries such as Libya, DRC Congo and Somalia. On military intervention in peace-building, the study established that Peace-building is a familiar concept within the United Nations and it involves a range of measures targeted to reduce the risk of lapsing or relapsing into conflict by strengthening national capacities at all levels for conflict management, and to lay the foundations for sustainable peace and development. However, there is no standard template for peace-building, there is no one-size-fits-all. Each initiative needs to be crafted in the fullest awareness of the specificity of the context and of the dynamics of the conflict. The study found many UN missions lack the capacity to repel opponents and change the course of war. In Rwanda the UN did not have capability to deploy a force rapidly and no nation was willing to send in enough troops to solve an internal conflict. Conflicts in Rwanda, Bosnia and Somalia were turning points where some lessons were learnt which has led to changes to improve peace support operations. In Somalia, the lessons learnt from UNITAF and UNOSOM I & II and AMISOM revealed that peacekeeping can be better managed by: matching mandates to needs, communicating the purpose of the mission to the local community; and where the use of force is inevitable in self-defence or where the use of force may be counterproductive. The study concludes that peacekeeping through use of military after civil wars was found to be a contributing factor to attaining peace and stability. However, peacekeeping cannot guarantee real peace. Even after the fighting has been stopped through military intervention, the risk of renewed conflict is still high. Though military activities reduce the damage of the crisis and creating room for diplomatic and humanitarian actors to address the underlying causes of the conflict; it cannot guarantee real peace. However, they can establish a framework in order to allow the local and international community to do what is necessary to resolve conflicts. The study also concludes military as an essential component of many peace-building operations, presupposes that the presence of the military reduces the propensity for direct conflict and creates a safe space for peace building activities and other categories of intervention that is designed to address the root causes of the violence. However, while using the military, peace-building activities and actors must take a conflict-sensitive approach. The study recommends that the military while undertaking peace-building activities must take a conflict-sensitive approach. This requires engagement in a conflict analysis exercise in order to identify both the structural causes of conflict, and (which may be different) the current triggers or accelerators of potential renewed conflict. The time has come when the international community needs to let Somalis take charge of their political determination.