Failing Somalia, Trapped in the Vicious Circle of Unsolved Old Issues and Rampant “New Piracy”. Current Legal Challenges (Part I)

Somalia has been one of the most persistent and complex situations of internal conflict over the last two decades and it has recaptured the international community’s attention in recent years, above all since it has become a base and haven for pirates preying on international shipping and also (but not mainly) because of the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the country. Recent reiterated attacks against international shipping occurring in the Gulf of Aden off the Somali coast (identified under the neologism “new piracy”) have put indeed new light also on the old (better, historical and dramatic) situation of armed violence existing in the country since early nineties. Somalia is indeed considered by large part of the international legal doctrine as the archetype of “failed” (or, at some stage, of “failing”) State precisely because of the situation of complete (sometimes almost complete) anarchy existing in it since two decades, an effective, inclusive and functioning government (controlling the whole territory and national maritime spaces) being totally (or partially) absent in the country. Against this rich and complex background, witnessing the growing international relevance of the Somali crisis under different perspectives, this study is aimed – first, at illustrate some important factual and legal backgrounds of the Somali armed conflict (para. 2) as well as the initiatives adopted by the United Nations, by regional actors and also by single States in relation to it (para. 3). This will be useful to a better understanding of the international relevance of the Somali case, as well as to identify and discuss several important legal issues arising from the practice of the Somali case and to examine their relevance to international customary law (para. 4).