Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject Politics - Region: Africa, grade: 1,3, Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, language: English, abstract: Over the last two decades, the post-colonial state of Somalia has been well-known as a so-called “failed state” in the scholarly literature. Common structures of a national state were not visible in the African country. Somalia, even though far from politically stable under the dictator Siad Barre, had been suffering even more after the down-fall of the regime in 1991. Ever since, war, destruction, hunger and poverty had been predominant in the fragile state. It lacked organisation, authority and essential structures. Terrorist groups as well as warlords shaped the political landscape of the country. And although Somalia had transitional administrations from 2004, it did not have a functioning central government until the 2012 election of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Shortland and Percy described the situation accurately by stating: “anarchy on land means piracy at sea”.