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Al-Shabaab remains one of the most resilient and dangerous extremist groups in Somalia and the broader Horn of Africa. The group exploits weak governance, socio-economic disparities, and regional instability to sustain its operations. Despite ongoing military interventions, the group continues to adapt through financial networks, strategic propaganda, and alliances with global jihadist movements. This study employs a qualitative analysis of secondary data sources, including academic literature, policy reports, and government documents, to examine Al-Shabaab’s operational tactics, governance structures, and counterterrorism challenges. The findings reveal that military strategies alone are insufficient in dismantling Al-Shabaab’s influence. A comprehensive approach that includes governance reforms, economic development, community engagement, and regional cooperation is essential for sustainable counterterrorism efforts. Strengthening state institutions, reducing corruption, and addressing socioeconomic grievances will be key to mitigating Al-Shabaab’s appeal and ensuring long-term security in Somalia and beyond.

This paper examines the critical role of Somali youth in peacebuilding, highlighting the challenges they face and the opportunities that exist for their meaningful engagement. In a country shaped by decades of conflict, terrorism, and political fragmentation, youth represent both a vulnerability and a powerful resource for sustainable peace. Guided by the Positive Peace Framework and the Youth, Peace, and Security Agenda (UNSCR 2250), the study employs a qualitative approach based on secondary data from scholarly and institutional sources. It explores how structural barriers such as unemployment, marginalisation, and limited access to education and decision-making restrict youth participation, while emphasising emerging opportunities in technology, entrepreneurship, and grassroots initiatives. The paper argues that empowering Somali youth through inclusive governance, capacity-building, and digital engagement can transform them into effective agents of peace and development. The research provides significant theoretical and policy relevance to the field of post-conflict reconstruction, concluding with actionable recommendations for leveraging youth potential as a driving force for enduring stability in Somalia and other structurally vulnerable settings.

The purpose of this article is to present the issue of security in the region of East Africa, particularly in Kenya, in view of the development of the phenomenon of Islamic terrorism. In the last two years it killed more than 400 people in this country and the scale of organized attacks is still increasing. In April 2015 Islamic militants from the Somali group al‑Shabaab attacked Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya. This terrorist attack confirmed that Kenyan authorities are not able to control the 700‑kilometre border with Somalia and ensure the security of citizens and tourists visiting the country. The threat of the escalation of acts of terrorism and the spread of violence to other countries in the region are becoming a major challenge to the foreign policy of Kenya and other countries in the region. In this article the author intends to present Kenya’s current actions in the fight against terrorism in Somalia and to assess the involvement of the African Union (AU) and the East African Community (EAC)– in terms of ensuring the regional security and the involvement of players from the region outside (the USA in particular) –in the context of the fight against Islamic terrorism on a global scale. Therefore the aim of the article is to attempt to evaluate the real possibility of providing effective aid to Kenya in the fight against terrorism. Despite the limited access to sources, dealing with this difficult subject of research has been justified by the fact that the awareness of the threat of Islamic terrorism against Kenya becomes necessary for the understanding of different phenomena and processes essential for the security of East African countries, and also for the fight against terrorism worldwide.

Terrorism has remained a big international threat to worldwide security with Somalia being amongst the most hit nations owing to the consistent actions of Al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab is very strong and is still very influential in Somalia and some parts of Kenya even though a number of deaths and attacks have been recorded to have decreased over the last few years. This article considers the theory of securitization as an analytical tool when exploring the motivation to persist in the group. It presents the interaction between structural push and pull determinants, including economic deprivation, poor governance, marginalization of the society and human rights, and propaganda, economic incentives, and territory. The discussion identifies the state and non-state actors in creating an intuition of Al-Shabaab as a perceived threat to their existence and justifying the interventions based on counter-terrorism. Simultaneously, Al-Shabaab actively resorts to reverse securitization to position itself as the protector of Somali identity and Islam, thus continuing to attract and sustain recruitment and support. The article highlights the multidimensional aspects of radicalization and the complexity of the security situation in Somalia through the synthesis of empirical data, reports on policy, as well as scholarly opinions. It concludes by reiterating the necessity of a multi-faceted approach to counterterrorism that involves not just military actions but the structural changes that are long-term in nature and would deal with weak points in governance, economics, and society.

In October 2015, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2242 calling on member states to work toward the greater integration of the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda with efforts to counter terrorism and violent extremism. While the rapprochement between counterterrorism and WPS may appear to be a step forward, particularly for those seeking to increase women's participation in areas traditionally dominated by men, it is also potentially dangerous. This article makes a significant contribution to the larger debate on the WPS agenda by studying the impact and unintended consequences of linking WPS with countering violent extremism on the ground in Kenya. Based on original research in the field, including key informant interviews, I argue that in the Kenyan context, connecting WPS with violent extremism has had several damaging consequences for women and their communities. Far from advancing the WPS agenda, this new policy shift has caused tension between local and international priorities, precipitated the redirection of donor funding away from important gender initiatives and toward countering violent extremism, and resulted in women's additional stigmatization, insecurity, and exclusion.

Recently, the Somali diaspora has found itself at the centre of heightened security concerns surrounding the proliferation of international terrorist networks and their recruitment strategies. These concerns have reached new levels since the absorption of al-Shabaab into al-Qaeda in 2012. Based on a qualitative analysis of interviews with 118 members of Canada's largest Somali community, this article draws upon narrative criminology to reverse the 'why they joined' question that serves as the predicate for much recent radicalization scholarship, and instead explores, 'why they would never join'. We encounter Somali-Canadians equipping themselves with sophisticated counternarratives that vitiate the enticements of al-Shabaab. Particularly, notions of 'coolness', 'trickery' and 'religious perversion' mediate participants' perceptions of al-Shabaab and enable a self-empowering rejection of its recruitment narratives. In particular, we find resonances between the narratives of non-recruits and 'bogeyman' narratives that exist commonly in many cultures. The efficacy of these narratives for resilience is three-fold, positioning the recruiters as odious agents, recruits as weak-minded dupes and our participants as knowledgeable storytellers who can forewarn others against recruitment to al-Shabaab.

This paper examines the legitimacy of the use of drones by the United States (US) against terrorism in Somalia. Terrorism is now regarded as the main challenge to global security in the twenty-first century. The paper focuses on the effectiveness of drones in combatting terrorism in Somalia and determines the compliance of drones with the principles of jus ad bellum and jus in bello. It further investigates the implications of drone strikes on Somalia’s civilian population. The paper provides additional insights on the problems that Somalia faces in real life, such as Al-Shabaab’s objective in Somalia to destroy societal order to make the country unruly and keep Somalia under its dominion. Theoretically, realism was adopted as the guiding theory in this paper as it offers a better comprehension of the use of drones by the US; by understanding that states are rational actors, and they will do anything for their survival. A qualitative research method in the form of a document review was adopted to achieve the objectives of the paper. The paper concludes that while the US’s use of drones to counter Al-Shabaab in Somalia has yielded some favourable results, it has not necessarily put an end to the country’s armed conflict. Thus, to defeat Al-Shabaab and reduce the adverse effects of drones on the local populace, the US and Somalia must seek out alternative approaches.

The article describes how Kenya, through its security forces, responded to significant terrorist attacks carried out by terrorist organization Al-Shabaab on the territory of Kenya alongside how those attacks contributed to the development of counter-terrorism measures. The measures are analyzed from a legislative, technical and security point of view. The article is based on a conceptual analysis of P.C. Sederberg, combined with the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and argues that three significant terrorist attacks on Westgate in 2013, Garissa in 2015 and Dusit D2 in 2019 were key factors of the development and adoption of complex counter-terrorism measures. Those measures were based on the adoption of appropriate laws, development of the institutional structure and implementation of military and police counter-terrorism measures. However, changes were gradual, reactive instead of proactive. The country has learned to build the state’s capacity to combat terrorism but struggled with conflict prevention and respect for the rule of law. It succeeded with a build-up of counter-terrorism security forces able to respond effectively and on time. But, finding and eliminating the causes of the conflict, they were far behind. All three significant terrorist attacks showed the need for an appropriate combination of counter-terrorism measures. They cannot be put in use separately, otherwise, it can lead to unintended results.

The article examines the development and employment of the al-Shabaab secret service, Amniyat, in its fight against African Union troops and security forces in Somalia. It first elaborates on the historical background of the terrorist group, which may serve as an introduction to understanding the roots of the organization and how its resurgence is tied to the effective management of Amniyat. The governance structure and intelligence activities of the terror group are also scrutinized. The study then analyzes the capacities and capabilities of the al-Shabaab intelligence apparatus, highlighting the elements that have contributed to its efficiency. In light of the growing importance of intelligence and counter-intelligence, the development of a secret service proved to be crucial for the survival of the terrorist group. Over the last decade, not only has al-Shabaab survived but also managed to thrive, presenting a number of obstacles to better-equipped multinational forces and the international community. Even if al-Shabaab were to be defeated, Amniyat could outlast its dissolution and may be \"reborn\" in various entities or merge into a criminal network.

In the last three decades, East Africa has turned into a crucial arena in the fight against transnational Islamist terrorism, harbouring Al-Qa’ida’s leadership and subsequently giving rise to one of the most active organisations, Al-Shabaab. Much has been written on jihadism in the region. However, the scholarship still lacks a comprehensive historical analysis shedding light on the dynamics that have favoured its survival and development. This article fills such a gap, reviewing the evolution of transnational Islamist terrorism in East Africa from the early 1990s up to the present day. The article sheds light on the realpolitik of East African terrorism, showing how militants have consistently sought to adapt to and exploit (1) the political morphology of the region and (2) emerging tensions between local groups and national authorities to survive setbacks, expand their influence and gain supporters. The article concludes by arguing that tackling social and political fractures on the ground is of fundamental importance to effectively dismantle terror networks and fight instability in the region.