ABSTRACT
Somalia has been the scene of some of the most ambitious, costly, precedent-setting external stabilization operations in the post-Cold War period. These have spanned the full spectrum of what can be defined as stabilization operations, including large-scale humanitarian relief response, armed protection of humanitarian aid, intensive diplomatic promotion of local and national reconciliation, robust support to state-building at the national and local level, armed protection of a transitional government, extensive financial and technical support of the transitional process, security sector support, monitoring and enforcement of a UN arms embargo, and multiple external military interventions in the name of peace enforcement, counter-terrorism and anti-piracy.
