Publication

This paper aims to provide an understanding of the role external actors play in Somalia's war economy. The study describes the structures and dynamics that characterize this economy and takes a closer look at the impact of international economic agents, which support conflict parties through economic interaction. The focus is on corporations which trade with conflict parties, as well as on foreign armed forces and arms dealers, whose intervention in a conflict is motivated by economic interests. The theoretical question behind this debate is whether a war economy is mainly sustained through the impact of external arms and capital or by the greed of internal actors.