THE STATE AND PAN-SOMALISM

This English translation brings to a wider readership Dr. Omar Osman Rabeh’s examination of the Somali nation, its unity, sovereignty, history, and future.

In this work, the author puts forward new and fundamental ideas concerning the future of the Somali nation, its unity, and its sovereignty.

From this perspective, he clearly articulates, for the first time, both in its overall conception and in its internal workings, the Abyssinian project, its motivations, its progressive development, and its ultimate goal.

An analysis of the political and strategic considerations underlying this project, which shaped the colonial partition of the Horn of Africa during the last century, shows that its sole, avowed, and sought-after aim is the complete and utter disappearance of the Somali nation as both a human community and a state entity.

Along the same lines, the author examines the role of the state as an indispensable instrument of reunification and the vital place occupied by the “independent portion” of the nation in the quest for unity.

Finally, in connection with the foregoing, he examines the problem of the nomadic mentality, which he regards as the source of the real dangers threatening the national community and its state, and consequently the imperative need to overcome it through culture.

For these reasons, he believes it is of paramount importance for the Somali people and their state to fully grasp a situation that urgently demands serious national reflection and an appropriate response.

Nations experience pivotal moments that shape their history. The Somali nation has now entered a new era. In this challenging pose by destiny, the future of the Somali people will take the form they themselves choose.