ABSTRACT
Roots of the politicization of clans can be traced back at least to the establishment of coastal protectorates by Britain and Italy, although William Puzo's history of Mogadishu describes factional rivalries as old as the city itself. Somalia's lack of success must also have encouraged those clans pressing return of the Ogaden to consider handling the situation themselves, rather than allowing the Somali government to do the job. Among initial reasons for disgruntlement was Siad Barre's handling of the war, which, it was argued, "centered on his overreliance on administrators and decision-makers from the Marrehan, from his mother's clan and from the Dulbahante. Any history of clan interrelationships is patchy; nor has anyone yet attempted a comprehensive history for one clan, let alone explored the relationship between two clans over an extended period. Thus, it becomes impossible to reconstruct a local history at all comparable to Somalia's supra-local.
