By WDM Editorial Board Reports of armed confrontation between armed forces in Laag, outside Bosaso City, are deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable. Whatever the immediate trigger, one fact remains beyond dispute: Puntland cannot tolerate competing centres of armed power. Political disagreements are inevitable in every society; private armies are not. This is not simply another … Continue reading Disarm Them All Before It Is Too Late: Puntland Cannot Afford Another Armed Challenge →
By Ismail H. Warsame The recent agreement between the Puntland Government, DP World (Dubai Ports) and the merchant community over cargo charges at Bosaso Port is a welcome development. After days of tension that threatened to disrupt Puntland’s busiest commercial gateway, the government demonstrated flexibility by reducing the disputed fees, while merchants accepted a compromise … Continue reading Bosaso’s Calm, Garowe’s Warning: Why Economic Compromise Cannot Substitute for Security Cohesion →
-Part II- Learning from Successful States Somalia need not search for solutions in theory alone. History offers numerous examples of societies that successfully reduced the political importance of ethnicity, tribe, religion, or regional identity without attempting to erase them altogether. Singapore inherited a deeply divided society consisting of Chinese, Malays, Indians, and other minority communities. … Continue reading Beyond the Clan: Why Somalia’s Future Depends on Making Citizenship More Important Than Lineage →
By Ismail H. Warsame History rarely begins with catastrophe. It starts with signals—subtle at first, then harder to ignore. Puntland is now at such a moment. A tense stand-off around the Port of Bosaso, renewed reports of piracy along the coast, rising political polarization, and an increasingly rigid approach to conflict management are converging into … Continue reading WDM Editorial: The Gathering Storm in Puntland: Leadership Is Measured by the Crises It Prevents →
Reports have emerged of a suspected sea piracy incident off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea, with early details still sketchy and no official confirmation yet on the full circumstances. A social media post circulating widely on Friday referred to a vessel identified as MT-ASANA, while another post cited coordinates in the Red … Continue reading Breaking: Reports of suspected piracy attack off Yemen coast in Red Sea →
A WDM Policy Essay By Ismail H. Warsame Introduction: The Wrong Debate For more than half a century, Somalia has been arguing over the wrong question. Politicians, academics, civil society activists, and foreign advisers alike have repeatedly asked how the clan can be eliminated from Somali politics. Others, equally convinced of the impossibility of such … Continue reading Beyond the Clan: Why Somalia’s Future Depends on Making Citizenship More Important Than Lineage →
Warsame Policy & Media Network (WAPMEN)Critical analysis, news and commentaries July 16, 2026 By Ismail H. Warsame Ports do not fall silent without cause. When cranes stop lifting, containers remain stranded, and entire commercial districts shut down, the explanation in Bosaso today lies in far more than a dispute over new port fees. The shutdown … Continue reading Bosaso Port Shutdown: DP World Disputes and Puntland’s Fragile Trade Governance →
By Ismail Warsame, Warsame Digital Media (WDM) Federalism was adopted in Somalia as a political response to state collapse, clan conflict, exclusion, and the fear of renewed centralised authoritarian rule. More than a decade after the adoption of the Provisional Constitution in 2012, however, the country’s federal system remains incomplete, contested, and vulnerable to political … Continue reading Somalia’s Federalism: A Necessary Framework Still Searching for a Settlement →
By Ismail H. WarsamePorts do not fall silent by accident.When the cranes stop moving, containers remain stranded, merchants close their shops, and an entire commercial city shuts its doors, the problem is rarely about taxes alone. Taxes are merely the spark. The real fire has usually been burning inside government institutions for years.That is precisely … Continue reading Why Somalia’s Busiest Northern Port Suddenly Went Silent →
BREAKING A fee hike, a merchant boycott, and a fight over who really controls Bosaso If you’ve driven along the Bosaso–Garowe highway in the past couple of weeks, you’ll have seen the traffic jam that tells the whole story: dozens of cargo trucks parked and going nowhere, while out past the breakwater, ships sit at … Continue reading Why Somalia’s Busiest Northern Port Just Went Silent →
