Reconfiguring the State in Somalia: Current Progress and Challenges

Somalia is an ancient country with classic history and relationship with ancient China, India and Egypt. Inhabitants of this Horn of African nation were not only engaged in commercial activities but equally in diplomatic exchanges and undertakings long before Europeans conducted external relations and expansion. For instance, the great Egyptian Queen and ruler, Ma'at-ka-Ra Hatshepsut (1473-1458 BC), sent senior envoys to the land of Punt, the ancient name of Somalia. Similar mutual cooperation and protocols took place between the Somalis and the Persians and other ancient civilisations. This indicates that historically this beautiful east African nation was in the past more respected, and interacted dynamically with other nations than has been the case in recent years where Somalia unfortunately became synonymous with modern human tragedy in terms of extreme poverty, warlordism and underdevelopment. The UN considers Somalia to be the second poorest country on earth