- Mohamed Farah Aided and The Former vision for Somalia
Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 3:57 pm
1. Forward
General Mohamed Farah Hassan ('Aidid') was a very controversial figure in recent Somali politics -- with many strong supporters (mainly Somalis who wanted him to become their next President of Somalia) and many dictator's (mainly foreigners who did not want him to become President of Somalia). However, he died on 1 August 1996 at the age of 61 and therefore is no longer a candidate for the Presidency of Somalia. Perhaps this will allow both his supporters and detractors to look less emotionally at his vision and goals for the political future of Somalia and constructively learn from him and his extensive research on these topics.
Among the many Somalis actively engaged in Somali politics over the past few decades, Gen. 'Aidid' stands out as having developed a far-more-detailed vision or concept for the future governance of Somalia than any of his competitors. His vision has the scope necessary to serve as the platform of a Somali political party that goes beyond clan politics in defining political goals for Somalia. His closest competitor was General Mohamed Siad Barre, with the important distinctions that
Gen. Barre developed and adopted his vision and ideology of "Scientific Socialism" (which was originally developed and defined by Lenin) only after having taken power through a military coup on 21 October 1969, whereas Gen. 'Aidid' spent many years developing his vision and ideology before he actually began to achieve sufficient power to attempt to implement it and
the content of their two visions or ideologies were completely different from each other and in opposition to each other.
It is our hope that, by re-publishing the vision and ideology of the late Gen. 'Aidid' on the Internet in our Somali Virtual Library and encouraging active public debate on them by a large number of Somalis, this will encourage other active Somali political leaders to take the time to think about their own long-range goals for Somalia and to publish them as candidly as Gen. 'Aidid' did. This can serve as the basis for a very profound democratic debate by many Somalis in defining a vision and set of goals for future governance in Somalia that can be actively supported by the majority of all Somalis. This could in turn serve as the first step towards the formation of genuine "political parties" in Somalia that distinguish themselves from one another by their political visions and platforms, rather than clan membership. These are the foundations for genuine democracy in Somalia.
2. The Academic Foundations for Gen. 'Aidid's Vision
Gen. 'Aidid' was not an ivory-tower theoretician, but rather a creative inventor and implementer of new realistic concepts where one had to make numerous pragmatic compromises along the way towards achieving lofty goals. Therefore, constructive criticism of Gen. 'Aidid' should distinguish between criticism of
the soundness of his long-term vision and goals versus
the soundness of his short-term tactics, strategies, and compromises along the way in attempting to implement his long-term vision and goals.
Even as a 26-year old Lieutenant in the (Italian) "Somali Army Forces" receiving military training in Italy, he took the leadership of defining the need for Somalia to maintain an Army of their own after independence. He both developed a concept for this and made the recommendations to the Somali Government in formation which adopted his proposal shortly after independence in 1960. This was a foundation for his reputation as an effective and creative planner.
Gen. 'Aidid' emphasized Somali history and the democratic roots of Somali society in his vision for democracy in Somalia. He insisted that a new democratic model for governance in Somali must fully reflect the long democratic cultural traditions of the Somalis as well as to integrate modern democratic concepts from around the World. In order to understand his vision, we need to see what he meant by these fundamental foundations upon which modern Somali governance must be based. He defined these concepts in his first book, "The Preferred Future Development in Somalia", co-edited with Dr. Satya Pal Ruhela and including chapters by each of them, as well as 33 other prominent Indian scholars). His own contributions to this book were written while he was still Somali Ambassador to India, prior to his departure in 1989, but published later in 1993 by the Viking Press, India. In
Chapter 3: Democracy in Somalia - its Roots and its Future Scenario
Gen. 'Aidid' starts out by stating "Let us recall that the Somali people, in the course of their 8,000 years of history, have been the foremost democratic people of the world." In the first section of this chapter, entitled "Somalia's Rural and Pastoral Democracy", he defines the Somali democratic concepts of Shir (Assembly) and Xeer (rules of governance of clans).
He staked out an early position in his vision of democracy in Somalia by insisting upon equal rights for all Somali citizens and removing the traditional discrimination against minority clans and groups in Somalia, with an action plan based upon the model of modern India for eliminating discrimination against "lower castes" and "untouchables" in India. He defines this concept in a chapter co-written with Dr. S. P. Ruhela of India:
Chapter 6: Opening a New Chapter in the Lives of the Somalia Nomads and Minorities
As a pragmatic "problem solver", Gen. 'Aidid' was very strongly influenced by his perceptions of two modern events in Somali History:
the dismal failure of the so-called democracy in Somalia from 1960 - 1969 and
the catastrophe for Somalia caused by the Socialist/Communist Dictatorship of Gen. Barre from 1969 to 1991.
His vision and goals for Somalia are based upon his analysis and perception of these two disastrous periods of recent history and focus upon how to overcome the underlying problems that caused these disasters.
Therefore, as a foundation, one should start by reading his own description of these events from his perspective in 3 chapters of his later book (published in 1994) on Somali history, "Somalia: From the Dawn Of Civilization To The Modern Times", also co-edited with Dr. Satya Pal Ruhela, an internationally-known Indian sociologist and specialist on nomadic societies around the World:
Chapter 12: Somali Independence and Civil Democracy (1960 - 1969 A.D.)
Chapter 13: The Coup of Mohammed Siad Barre (1969)
Chapter 14: The Dark Age of Somali History: Ugly Revolution (1969 - 1991 A.D.)
Gen. 'Aidid' was an avid reader in searching for the ideas that he could integrate into his solutions for these problems.
He selected 4 international experts on democratic governance for the source of his main external inspirations for his own vision of democracy for Somalia,
2 from the U.S.A. and
2 from Great Britain
whereby
the 2 experts from the U.S.A. were leaders in formulating the U.S. model for democracy nearly one century ago and
the 2 experts from Great Britain are leaders influencing current discussion on the future of democracy.
It is interesting to examine the views of these 4 experts in order to understand the possibilities which Gen. 'Aidid' saw in their writings. They are:
Alvin Toffler -- is a well-known and popular British "Futurologist". Gen. 'Aidid' was strongly influenced by this new field of "Futurology" and Toffler's concepts for a "Third Wave" as well as "Semi-Direct Democracy" while serving as the Ambassador of Somalia in India. These concepts contributed to the long-range goals for what Gen. 'Aidid' wanted to achieve in Somalia. In fact, the title of Gen. 'Aidid's first book, "The Preferred Future Development in Somalia", co-edited with Dr. Satya Pal Ruhela, is taken from the field of Futurology, which distinguishes between three kinds of futures: "Possible Future";
"Probable Future"; and
"Preferable Future" or "Preferred Future".
David Held -- David Held was born in 1951 in Britain and was educated in Britain, France, Germany and the United States. He is currently the Graham Wallas Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics where his main research interests include rethinking democracy at transnational and international levels and the study of globalization and global governance. He is a co-founder of Polity, a leading publisher in the fields of social science and humanities publishing.
Robert Morrison McIver -- Scottish-American sociologist - graduate of Edinburgh and Oxford - taught at the Univ. of Aberdeen, Univ. of Toronto, and became head of Dept. of Sociology at Columbia Univ. in NY -- after retirement in 1962 became head of the New School for Social Research in New York.
Abbott Lawrence Lowell -- served as a Professor for Political Science at Harvard University from 1900 - 1909 and then served as president of Harvard University from 1909 - 1933 and is best-known today for having transformed Harvard University into the leading university that it is today -- brother of Percival Lowell, an astronomer after whom the Lowell Observatory was named, and the poet, Amy Lowell.
2.1 Alvin Toffler's Definition of the "Third Wave" and "Semi-Direct Democracy"
Toffler defines 3 "Waves" of civilization in his books, "Future Shock" and "The Third Wave" (1980), as:
an agricultural phase,
an industrial phase, and
a new phase which is evolving now.
This new phase is what he defines to be the "Third Wave", for which others have tried different names, such as a "post-industrial phase". The first book focuses more upon the processes and the second book more upon the structure. The second book attempts to describe this "Third Wave" in more detail.
In the Preface to "The Third Wave", Toffler writes: "I came to appreciate that the right question is usually more important than the right answer to the wrong question." Three decades earlier, Suzanne K. Langer also presented the argument in her book, "A Philosophy in a New Key", that the limits of a civilization are determined primarily by the ways in which they formulate key questions. She claimed that a transition from one civilization to the next occurs when these key questions are reformulated, with the result that the new questions are then much easier to answer satisfactorily.
When a developing country, such as Somalia, has been in the "First Wave" of an agricultural phase, but its economy and social structures have collapsed, what should their new strategy be?
Should the Somali people focus upon re-starting in an agricultural phase, in order to lay the foundations for advancing to an industrial phase, in order to then advance to the new "Third Wave" which leading countries around the World are already transitioning to?
Should the Somali people focus upon re-starting in an industrial phase, in order to lay the foundations for advancing to the new "Third Wave", skipping the "First Wave" of an agricultural phase?
Should the Somali people focus upon re-starting in the new "Third Wave", largely skipping the "First Wave" and "Second Wave".
The general conclusion which Gen. 'Aidid' seems to have drawn, for inclusion in his Vision for Democracy in Somalia, appears to consist of:
Rebuilding the traditional nomadic and farming phase of the Somalis while simultaneously incorporating the elements of governance from the "Third Wave" as defined by Toffler.
This conclusion should serve as the basis for detailed analysis and discussion by the Somali people today. Asking the optimal questions and setting the optimal goals for their own future will certainly be extremely important in determining their future successes.
This general issue was discussed in "A Set of Projects for Achieving Sustainable Economic Development on the Horn of Africa: Creating a 'Silicon Valley' on the Horn of Africa", by Davies Consulting GmbH, in 1997. Describing these 3 "waves" as agriculture, manufacturing, and services; this paper came to the conclusion that the Horn of Africa should at least consider developing modern state-of-the-art services which it can export in parallel with developing agriculture for agricultural exports and developing manufactured products for both exports and import substitution.
The concept of the "Third Wave" from Toffler has become popular around the World. However, there is natural human inertia and resistance to any radical creative changes in our society. Therefore, many people now describe what is happening and they are doing as being "third wave", but in reality, they are only trying to re-package their "second wave" solutions without substantial changes as being new "third wave" solutions.
The key concept from Toffler upon which Gen. 'Aidid' focused was that of "Semi-Direct Democracy", as in the 2nd section of Chapter 28: "Twenty-First Century Democracy" of "The Third Wave". Toffler defines his concept as "a shift from depending on representatives to representing ourselves. The collapse of consensus, as we have already seen, subverts the very concept of representation. Without agreement among the voters back home, whom does the representative really 'represent'? One of the solutions proposed by others for the obvious failures of representative democracy around the World is "direct democracy". Toffler notes the many weaknesses in both "representative democracy" and "direct democracy". Therefore, his proposal is a hybrid combination of them, i.e. "semi-direct democracy", relying upon modern technologies for more effective collaboration among citizens.
Toffler joins a broader criticism of democracy as implemented around the world today when he writes: "Our elected representatives know less and less about the myriad measures on which they must decide, and are compelled to rely more and more upon the judgment of others. The representative no longer even represents him- or herself."
Part of his solution is that: "many of the decisions now made by small numbers of pseudo-representatives may have to be shifted back gradually to the electorate itself. If our elected brokers can't make deals for us, we shall have to do it ourselves."
This leads to the 3rd Section in this Chapter, on "Decision Division". Toffler writes: "we need to divide up the decisions and reallocate them -- sharing them more widely and switching the site of decision-making as the problems themselves require."
These are all issues that Gen. 'Aidid' perceived as serious weaknesses in both the so-called "democracy" in Somalia during the 1960's as well as under the Socialist/Communist Dictatorship of Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre. Therefore, Gen. 'Aidid' tried to create a model of governance for the Somalis that would overcome these dangerous weaknesses from the recent past. Unfortunately, he appeared to be nearly alone in his concerns about these fundamentally important issues involving any new form of democratic governance in Somalia, both among Somali politicians and international "experts" -- who wanted a quick solution for national governance in Somalia without worrying about how "democratic" or effective it might be in serving the genuine interests of the Somali people.
This Somali Civic Web, based on the concept of a Civic Web™ from Civic Web Designs, is an example of the kind of innovative communications facilitating collaboration by a large number of citizens which Toffler was referring to with his concept of "Semi-Direct Democracy" within his "Third Wave".
2.2 David Held in his "Models of Democracy"
Key writings of David Held relevant to the vision for democracy in Somalia of Gen. 'Aidid' include: "Democratic Autonomy", "Models of Democracy", in 1997 and "New Forms of Democracy" in 1986.
Other, more recent publications by Held are available on the Internet and may be interesting, such as:
"Democracy and Globalization", David Held, pp 11-27 in "Re-Imagining Political Community", edited by Daniele Archibugi, e.a., where he starts out with: "There is a striking paradox to note about the contemporary era: from Africa to Eastern Europe, Asia to Latin America, more and more nations and groups are championing the idea of democracy; but they are doing so at just that moment when the very efficacy of democracy as a national form of political organization appears open to question. As substantial areas of human activity are progressively organized on a regional or global level, the fate of democracy, and of the independent democratic nation-state in particular, is fraught with difficulty."
"Democracy: From City-states to a Cosmopolitan Order?", David Held, in "Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Anthology", Robert E. Goodin and Philip Pettit, editors, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1997 (First appeared in "Political Studies", 1992) [Note that the Somalis were members of a City-State system prior to colonialization]: Held states: "Nearly everyone today professes to be a democrat. Political regimes of all kinds throughout the world claim to be democracies. Yet what these regimes say and do is often substantially different from one to another. ooo Moreover, democracy is a remarkably difficult form of government to create and sustain."
2.3 R.M McIver and "The Modern State"
Gen. 'Aidid' was influenced by McIver on how to organize political parties in Somalia that would have a political mandate across clan lineages rather than to serve only as special-interest lobbies, with one so-called "political party" for each clan or group of clans, with a focus only upon obtaining benefits for their clan rather than a broad civic agenda for the benefit of all Somalis.
In his book, "The Modern State", published in 1926 by the Oxford University Press, McIver wrote on page 396 in Chapter 13: The Party System:
"We may define a political party as an association organized in support of some principle or policy which by constitutional means it endeavours to make the determinant of government. Without such party organization there can be no unified statement of principle, no orderly evolution of policy, no regular resort to the constitutional device of parliamentary elections, nor of course any of the recognized institutions by means of which a party seeks to gain or to maintain power."
On page 397, he writes:
"The lateness of the development of parties, as we have defined them, is at first sight surprising. For a considerable time parties remained rudimentary and, like the earlier 'associations', extra-constitutional. They were generally regarded as factions of schisms, the dangerous disturbers of established loyalties. In the American Constitution the existence of political parties is quite ignored, and the adoption of the collegiate system for the election of president is significant in this regard. Madison shared the common opinion that the influence of parties was detrimental, and no one seemed to recognize that party-organizations are absolutely necessary for the working of a democratic government."
On page 399, he writes:
"Without the party-system, we may conclude, the coup d'etat, the putsch, or revolution are the only methods of securing a change of government. Without it, the government in power is controlled only by
the pressure of custom, which itself is weakest in times of crisis; by the desire for popularity, which is easily overborne by the ambitions of despotism;
by the consideration, too insecure to allay the just fears of the subjects, of the advantage to itself of a contented prosperous people; and
beyond that by the fear of revolution.
Without the party-system the state has no elasticity, no true self-determination. Without it government is rigid and irresponsive, conceived in terms of mastery rather than of service."
Private discussions with Gen. 'Aidid' in 1994 had an influence upon the issue of creating genuine political parties in Somalia today as presented in Chapter 6: "Multi-Party Democracy in Somalia Today" in "Reunification of the Somalia People".
On direct versus indirect democracy, McIver wrote, pp. 353:
"ooo the so-called direct democracies of the ancient city-state [Greece] were not democracies at all, but egalitarian oligarchies in which a ruling class of citizens shared the rights and spoils of political control. These tense and unstable experiments, highly significant as they are for the evolution of the state, offer no exception to the principle that democracy is a modern form. There was no solidarity in these states, no such identification of collective and individual interest as makes possible a system of political representation. The general will was insecure as well as partial. Democracy requires a degree of solidarity which enables the few to act for the many, because the many have confidence in, as well as control over, the few. Otherwise there is little proof that a common interest binds the state. ooo"
"The representative principle belongs to the very being of democracy. It is true that certain institutions for the direct expression of the popular will in legislation exist in some modern states. These however -- the referendum and the initiative -- are not continuous agencies of legislation, but constitutional means, employed on specific occasions for the determination of some vexed question. If they were continually in operation they would destroy the responsibility of government, without which a democracy cannot operation. Moreover as we shall see later, every democracy requires and develops a party-system, and the referendum and initiative are of little avail in respect of questions on which party-lines are already formed. The referendum is practicable only where important issues arise which cross the lines of party and yet demand settlement ooo"
On page 356, he writes:
"Democracy, like oligarchy, may be unitary or composite. A composite state involves the union under one government of a number of political entities, retaining separate administrations. In the form of empire the components do not create the common government. In the form of federation the components both retain a degree of sovereignty and together constitute the sovereign power which upholds the federal union. There is a general will as broad as the federation (except in a time of civil war), whereas empire rests on a far narrower basis of will. Federation differs from a mere league or alliance in that the comprehensive union which it forms is itself a true state, and not only the consentient and revocable act of a group of independent government. It distinctly limits, though it does not abrogate, the sovereignty of the components."
As another example, McIver wrote on page 155 in "Community: A Sociological Study: Being an Attempt to Set Out the Nature and Fundamental Laws of Social Life": "An association is a body of social beings as organized for the pursuit of some common interest or interests. It stands in contrast to community, the common life of social beings. Community is any area of common life; an association is a definite organization pursuing some specific interest or pursuing general interests in some specific way."
2.4 A.L. Lowell on Public Opinion and Government
In his book, "Public Opinion in War and Peace", Lowell described political parties as:
"Their essential functions and true reasons for their existence is bringing public opinion to a focus and framing issues for a public verdict. Their function is to make candidates and programmes known to the public and attract them to those programmes, so that they can speak with a united voice, instead of uttering an unintelligible babel of sound."
Lowell's "Essays on Government" may also be relevant.
2.5 The Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution
Gen. 'Aidid' used the "Bill of Rights" (the first 10 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution) as his model for anchoring modern "human rights" in any new form of governance for the Somali people.
3. Conclusions
The sources cited above were selected by Gen. 'Aidid' and drawn upon in his article, "Democracy in Somalia - its Roots and its Future Scenario", which is included as Chapter 3 in his book, "The Preferred Future Development in Somalia", co-edited with Dr. Satya Pal Ruhela. He later made small revisions in this Chapter and republished it as Chapter 20 in "Somalia: From the Dawn Of Civilization To The Modern Times"]
This background information may be useful in understanding why Gen. 'Aidid' was so disappointed when the U.S. Government refused to support him in implementing his vision combining
the historical democratic traditions of the Somali people with
the more-recent model of democracy in the U.S.A.
Since he fought to successfully overthrow the oppressive Socialist/Communist Dictatorship and tried to replace it with his democratic vision, he had expected and counted upon support from the U.S. Government rather than opposition from them.
Gen. 'Aidid' used his time well as the Somalia Ambassador to India until 1989 to actively develop his vision, goals, and strategy for Somalia; particularly by cooperating with the Indian academic community and commissioning articles by leading Indian scholars on a variety of current problems of Somalia with proposals for solving them. The book, "The Preferred Future Development in Somalia", published in 1993, contains 40 articles or chapters by 33 different Indians experts, with the remaining articles written by himself, his partner and co-editor, or the two of them jointly. His book, "Somalia: From The Dawn of Civilization to The Modern Times" contains 5 out of 31 chapters being taken from his 1st book, particularly in the area of the Somali economy.
The contributions by Gen. 'Aidid' in both books were written almost exclusively by 1989, while he was still in India. After the end of 1989, while Gen. 'Aidid' was on the Horn of Africa directing the militia forces of the USC Liberation Movement in overthrowing the Socialist/Communist Dictatorship, it was largely impractical for him to edit or modify the text in these books.
4. Potential Topics for Discussion in the Discussion Groups of the Somali Civic Web
4.1 Was the democratic vision of Gen. 'Aidid' appropriate for Somalia? Why?
4.2 What were the reasons why Gen. 'Aidid' failed to implement his vision?
4.3 Were the concepts of Gen. 'Aidid' for the Somali economy realistic and could they have worked if implemented?
4.4 What are the concepts from the democratic vision of Gen. 'Aidid' that should have been considered for inclusion in any new form from the past governance of Somalia?
General Mohamed Farah Hassan ('Aidid') was a very controversial figure in recent Somali politics -- with many strong supporters (mainly Somalis who wanted him to become their next President of Somalia) and many dictator's (mainly foreigners who did not want him to become President of Somalia). However, he died on 1 August 1996 at the age of 61 and therefore is no longer a candidate for the Presidency of Somalia. Perhaps this will allow both his supporters and detractors to look less emotionally at his vision and goals for the political future of Somalia and constructively learn from him and his extensive research on these topics.
Among the many Somalis actively engaged in Somali politics over the past few decades, Gen. 'Aidid' stands out as having developed a far-more-detailed vision or concept for the future governance of Somalia than any of his competitors. His vision has the scope necessary to serve as the platform of a Somali political party that goes beyond clan politics in defining political goals for Somalia. His closest competitor was General Mohamed Siad Barre, with the important distinctions that
Gen. Barre developed and adopted his vision and ideology of "Scientific Socialism" (which was originally developed and defined by Lenin) only after having taken power through a military coup on 21 October 1969, whereas Gen. 'Aidid' spent many years developing his vision and ideology before he actually began to achieve sufficient power to attempt to implement it and
the content of their two visions or ideologies were completely different from each other and in opposition to each other.
It is our hope that, by re-publishing the vision and ideology of the late Gen. 'Aidid' on the Internet in our Somali Virtual Library and encouraging active public debate on them by a large number of Somalis, this will encourage other active Somali political leaders to take the time to think about their own long-range goals for Somalia and to publish them as candidly as Gen. 'Aidid' did. This can serve as the basis for a very profound democratic debate by many Somalis in defining a vision and set of goals for future governance in Somalia that can be actively supported by the majority of all Somalis. This could in turn serve as the first step towards the formation of genuine "political parties" in Somalia that distinguish themselves from one another by their political visions and platforms, rather than clan membership. These are the foundations for genuine democracy in Somalia.
2. The Academic Foundations for Gen. 'Aidid's Vision
Gen. 'Aidid' was not an ivory-tower theoretician, but rather a creative inventor and implementer of new realistic concepts where one had to make numerous pragmatic compromises along the way towards achieving lofty goals. Therefore, constructive criticism of Gen. 'Aidid' should distinguish between criticism of
the soundness of his long-term vision and goals versus
the soundness of his short-term tactics, strategies, and compromises along the way in attempting to implement his long-term vision and goals.
Even as a 26-year old Lieutenant in the (Italian) "Somali Army Forces" receiving military training in Italy, he took the leadership of defining the need for Somalia to maintain an Army of their own after independence. He both developed a concept for this and made the recommendations to the Somali Government in formation which adopted his proposal shortly after independence in 1960. This was a foundation for his reputation as an effective and creative planner.
Gen. 'Aidid' emphasized Somali history and the democratic roots of Somali society in his vision for democracy in Somalia. He insisted that a new democratic model for governance in Somali must fully reflect the long democratic cultural traditions of the Somalis as well as to integrate modern democratic concepts from around the World. In order to understand his vision, we need to see what he meant by these fundamental foundations upon which modern Somali governance must be based. He defined these concepts in his first book, "The Preferred Future Development in Somalia", co-edited with Dr. Satya Pal Ruhela and including chapters by each of them, as well as 33 other prominent Indian scholars). His own contributions to this book were written while he was still Somali Ambassador to India, prior to his departure in 1989, but published later in 1993 by the Viking Press, India. In
Chapter 3: Democracy in Somalia - its Roots and its Future Scenario
Gen. 'Aidid' starts out by stating "Let us recall that the Somali people, in the course of their 8,000 years of history, have been the foremost democratic people of the world." In the first section of this chapter, entitled "Somalia's Rural and Pastoral Democracy", he defines the Somali democratic concepts of Shir (Assembly) and Xeer (rules of governance of clans).
He staked out an early position in his vision of democracy in Somalia by insisting upon equal rights for all Somali citizens and removing the traditional discrimination against minority clans and groups in Somalia, with an action plan based upon the model of modern India for eliminating discrimination against "lower castes" and "untouchables" in India. He defines this concept in a chapter co-written with Dr. S. P. Ruhela of India:
Chapter 6: Opening a New Chapter in the Lives of the Somalia Nomads and Minorities
As a pragmatic "problem solver", Gen. 'Aidid' was very strongly influenced by his perceptions of two modern events in Somali History:
the dismal failure of the so-called democracy in Somalia from 1960 - 1969 and
the catastrophe for Somalia caused by the Socialist/Communist Dictatorship of Gen. Barre from 1969 to 1991.
His vision and goals for Somalia are based upon his analysis and perception of these two disastrous periods of recent history and focus upon how to overcome the underlying problems that caused these disasters.
Therefore, as a foundation, one should start by reading his own description of these events from his perspective in 3 chapters of his later book (published in 1994) on Somali history, "Somalia: From the Dawn Of Civilization To The Modern Times", also co-edited with Dr. Satya Pal Ruhela, an internationally-known Indian sociologist and specialist on nomadic societies around the World:
Chapter 12: Somali Independence and Civil Democracy (1960 - 1969 A.D.)
Chapter 13: The Coup of Mohammed Siad Barre (1969)
Chapter 14: The Dark Age of Somali History: Ugly Revolution (1969 - 1991 A.D.)
Gen. 'Aidid' was an avid reader in searching for the ideas that he could integrate into his solutions for these problems.
He selected 4 international experts on democratic governance for the source of his main external inspirations for his own vision of democracy for Somalia,
2 from the U.S.A. and
2 from Great Britain
whereby
the 2 experts from the U.S.A. were leaders in formulating the U.S. model for democracy nearly one century ago and
the 2 experts from Great Britain are leaders influencing current discussion on the future of democracy.
It is interesting to examine the views of these 4 experts in order to understand the possibilities which Gen. 'Aidid' saw in their writings. They are:
Alvin Toffler -- is a well-known and popular British "Futurologist". Gen. 'Aidid' was strongly influenced by this new field of "Futurology" and Toffler's concepts for a "Third Wave" as well as "Semi-Direct Democracy" while serving as the Ambassador of Somalia in India. These concepts contributed to the long-range goals for what Gen. 'Aidid' wanted to achieve in Somalia. In fact, the title of Gen. 'Aidid's first book, "The Preferred Future Development in Somalia", co-edited with Dr. Satya Pal Ruhela, is taken from the field of Futurology, which distinguishes between three kinds of futures: "Possible Future";
"Probable Future"; and
"Preferable Future" or "Preferred Future".
David Held -- David Held was born in 1951 in Britain and was educated in Britain, France, Germany and the United States. He is currently the Graham Wallas Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics where his main research interests include rethinking democracy at transnational and international levels and the study of globalization and global governance. He is a co-founder of Polity, a leading publisher in the fields of social science and humanities publishing.
Robert Morrison McIver -- Scottish-American sociologist - graduate of Edinburgh and Oxford - taught at the Univ. of Aberdeen, Univ. of Toronto, and became head of Dept. of Sociology at Columbia Univ. in NY -- after retirement in 1962 became head of the New School for Social Research in New York.
Abbott Lawrence Lowell -- served as a Professor for Political Science at Harvard University from 1900 - 1909 and then served as president of Harvard University from 1909 - 1933 and is best-known today for having transformed Harvard University into the leading university that it is today -- brother of Percival Lowell, an astronomer after whom the Lowell Observatory was named, and the poet, Amy Lowell.
2.1 Alvin Toffler's Definition of the "Third Wave" and "Semi-Direct Democracy"
Toffler defines 3 "Waves" of civilization in his books, "Future Shock" and "The Third Wave" (1980), as:
an agricultural phase,
an industrial phase, and
a new phase which is evolving now.
This new phase is what he defines to be the "Third Wave", for which others have tried different names, such as a "post-industrial phase". The first book focuses more upon the processes and the second book more upon the structure. The second book attempts to describe this "Third Wave" in more detail.
In the Preface to "The Third Wave", Toffler writes: "I came to appreciate that the right question is usually more important than the right answer to the wrong question." Three decades earlier, Suzanne K. Langer also presented the argument in her book, "A Philosophy in a New Key", that the limits of a civilization are determined primarily by the ways in which they formulate key questions. She claimed that a transition from one civilization to the next occurs when these key questions are reformulated, with the result that the new questions are then much easier to answer satisfactorily.
When a developing country, such as Somalia, has been in the "First Wave" of an agricultural phase, but its economy and social structures have collapsed, what should their new strategy be?
Should the Somali people focus upon re-starting in an agricultural phase, in order to lay the foundations for advancing to an industrial phase, in order to then advance to the new "Third Wave" which leading countries around the World are already transitioning to?
Should the Somali people focus upon re-starting in an industrial phase, in order to lay the foundations for advancing to the new "Third Wave", skipping the "First Wave" of an agricultural phase?
Should the Somali people focus upon re-starting in the new "Third Wave", largely skipping the "First Wave" and "Second Wave".
The general conclusion which Gen. 'Aidid' seems to have drawn, for inclusion in his Vision for Democracy in Somalia, appears to consist of:
Rebuilding the traditional nomadic and farming phase of the Somalis while simultaneously incorporating the elements of governance from the "Third Wave" as defined by Toffler.
This conclusion should serve as the basis for detailed analysis and discussion by the Somali people today. Asking the optimal questions and setting the optimal goals for their own future will certainly be extremely important in determining their future successes.
This general issue was discussed in "A Set of Projects for Achieving Sustainable Economic Development on the Horn of Africa: Creating a 'Silicon Valley' on the Horn of Africa", by Davies Consulting GmbH, in 1997. Describing these 3 "waves" as agriculture, manufacturing, and services; this paper came to the conclusion that the Horn of Africa should at least consider developing modern state-of-the-art services which it can export in parallel with developing agriculture for agricultural exports and developing manufactured products for both exports and import substitution.
The concept of the "Third Wave" from Toffler has become popular around the World. However, there is natural human inertia and resistance to any radical creative changes in our society. Therefore, many people now describe what is happening and they are doing as being "third wave", but in reality, they are only trying to re-package their "second wave" solutions without substantial changes as being new "third wave" solutions.
The key concept from Toffler upon which Gen. 'Aidid' focused was that of "Semi-Direct Democracy", as in the 2nd section of Chapter 28: "Twenty-First Century Democracy" of "The Third Wave". Toffler defines his concept as "a shift from depending on representatives to representing ourselves. The collapse of consensus, as we have already seen, subverts the very concept of representation. Without agreement among the voters back home, whom does the representative really 'represent'? One of the solutions proposed by others for the obvious failures of representative democracy around the World is "direct democracy". Toffler notes the many weaknesses in both "representative democracy" and "direct democracy". Therefore, his proposal is a hybrid combination of them, i.e. "semi-direct democracy", relying upon modern technologies for more effective collaboration among citizens.
Toffler joins a broader criticism of democracy as implemented around the world today when he writes: "Our elected representatives know less and less about the myriad measures on which they must decide, and are compelled to rely more and more upon the judgment of others. The representative no longer even represents him- or herself."
Part of his solution is that: "many of the decisions now made by small numbers of pseudo-representatives may have to be shifted back gradually to the electorate itself. If our elected brokers can't make deals for us, we shall have to do it ourselves."
This leads to the 3rd Section in this Chapter, on "Decision Division". Toffler writes: "we need to divide up the decisions and reallocate them -- sharing them more widely and switching the site of decision-making as the problems themselves require."
These are all issues that Gen. 'Aidid' perceived as serious weaknesses in both the so-called "democracy" in Somalia during the 1960's as well as under the Socialist/Communist Dictatorship of Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre. Therefore, Gen. 'Aidid' tried to create a model of governance for the Somalis that would overcome these dangerous weaknesses from the recent past. Unfortunately, he appeared to be nearly alone in his concerns about these fundamentally important issues involving any new form of democratic governance in Somalia, both among Somali politicians and international "experts" -- who wanted a quick solution for national governance in Somalia without worrying about how "democratic" or effective it might be in serving the genuine interests of the Somali people.
This Somali Civic Web, based on the concept of a Civic Web™ from Civic Web Designs, is an example of the kind of innovative communications facilitating collaboration by a large number of citizens which Toffler was referring to with his concept of "Semi-Direct Democracy" within his "Third Wave".
2.2 David Held in his "Models of Democracy"
Key writings of David Held relevant to the vision for democracy in Somalia of Gen. 'Aidid' include: "Democratic Autonomy", "Models of Democracy", in 1997 and "New Forms of Democracy" in 1986.
Other, more recent publications by Held are available on the Internet and may be interesting, such as:
"Democracy and Globalization", David Held, pp 11-27 in "Re-Imagining Political Community", edited by Daniele Archibugi, e.a., where he starts out with: "There is a striking paradox to note about the contemporary era: from Africa to Eastern Europe, Asia to Latin America, more and more nations and groups are championing the idea of democracy; but they are doing so at just that moment when the very efficacy of democracy as a national form of political organization appears open to question. As substantial areas of human activity are progressively organized on a regional or global level, the fate of democracy, and of the independent democratic nation-state in particular, is fraught with difficulty."
"Democracy: From City-states to a Cosmopolitan Order?", David Held, in "Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Anthology", Robert E. Goodin and Philip Pettit, editors, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1997 (First appeared in "Political Studies", 1992) [Note that the Somalis were members of a City-State system prior to colonialization]: Held states: "Nearly everyone today professes to be a democrat. Political regimes of all kinds throughout the world claim to be democracies. Yet what these regimes say and do is often substantially different from one to another. ooo Moreover, democracy is a remarkably difficult form of government to create and sustain."
2.3 R.M McIver and "The Modern State"
Gen. 'Aidid' was influenced by McIver on how to organize political parties in Somalia that would have a political mandate across clan lineages rather than to serve only as special-interest lobbies, with one so-called "political party" for each clan or group of clans, with a focus only upon obtaining benefits for their clan rather than a broad civic agenda for the benefit of all Somalis.
In his book, "The Modern State", published in 1926 by the Oxford University Press, McIver wrote on page 396 in Chapter 13: The Party System:
"We may define a political party as an association organized in support of some principle or policy which by constitutional means it endeavours to make the determinant of government. Without such party organization there can be no unified statement of principle, no orderly evolution of policy, no regular resort to the constitutional device of parliamentary elections, nor of course any of the recognized institutions by means of which a party seeks to gain or to maintain power."
On page 397, he writes:
"The lateness of the development of parties, as we have defined them, is at first sight surprising. For a considerable time parties remained rudimentary and, like the earlier 'associations', extra-constitutional. They were generally regarded as factions of schisms, the dangerous disturbers of established loyalties. In the American Constitution the existence of political parties is quite ignored, and the adoption of the collegiate system for the election of president is significant in this regard. Madison shared the common opinion that the influence of parties was detrimental, and no one seemed to recognize that party-organizations are absolutely necessary for the working of a democratic government."
On page 399, he writes:
"Without the party-system, we may conclude, the coup d'etat, the putsch, or revolution are the only methods of securing a change of government. Without it, the government in power is controlled only by
the pressure of custom, which itself is weakest in times of crisis; by the desire for popularity, which is easily overborne by the ambitions of despotism;
by the consideration, too insecure to allay the just fears of the subjects, of the advantage to itself of a contented prosperous people; and
beyond that by the fear of revolution.
Without the party-system the state has no elasticity, no true self-determination. Without it government is rigid and irresponsive, conceived in terms of mastery rather than of service."
Private discussions with Gen. 'Aidid' in 1994 had an influence upon the issue of creating genuine political parties in Somalia today as presented in Chapter 6: "Multi-Party Democracy in Somalia Today" in "Reunification of the Somalia People".
On direct versus indirect democracy, McIver wrote, pp. 353:
"ooo the so-called direct democracies of the ancient city-state [Greece] were not democracies at all, but egalitarian oligarchies in which a ruling class of citizens shared the rights and spoils of political control. These tense and unstable experiments, highly significant as they are for the evolution of the state, offer no exception to the principle that democracy is a modern form. There was no solidarity in these states, no such identification of collective and individual interest as makes possible a system of political representation. The general will was insecure as well as partial. Democracy requires a degree of solidarity which enables the few to act for the many, because the many have confidence in, as well as control over, the few. Otherwise there is little proof that a common interest binds the state. ooo"
"The representative principle belongs to the very being of democracy. It is true that certain institutions for the direct expression of the popular will in legislation exist in some modern states. These however -- the referendum and the initiative -- are not continuous agencies of legislation, but constitutional means, employed on specific occasions for the determination of some vexed question. If they were continually in operation they would destroy the responsibility of government, without which a democracy cannot operation. Moreover as we shall see later, every democracy requires and develops a party-system, and the referendum and initiative are of little avail in respect of questions on which party-lines are already formed. The referendum is practicable only where important issues arise which cross the lines of party and yet demand settlement ooo"
On page 356, he writes:
"Democracy, like oligarchy, may be unitary or composite. A composite state involves the union under one government of a number of political entities, retaining separate administrations. In the form of empire the components do not create the common government. In the form of federation the components both retain a degree of sovereignty and together constitute the sovereign power which upholds the federal union. There is a general will as broad as the federation (except in a time of civil war), whereas empire rests on a far narrower basis of will. Federation differs from a mere league or alliance in that the comprehensive union which it forms is itself a true state, and not only the consentient and revocable act of a group of independent government. It distinctly limits, though it does not abrogate, the sovereignty of the components."
As another example, McIver wrote on page 155 in "Community: A Sociological Study: Being an Attempt to Set Out the Nature and Fundamental Laws of Social Life": "An association is a body of social beings as organized for the pursuit of some common interest or interests. It stands in contrast to community, the common life of social beings. Community is any area of common life; an association is a definite organization pursuing some specific interest or pursuing general interests in some specific way."
2.4 A.L. Lowell on Public Opinion and Government
In his book, "Public Opinion in War and Peace", Lowell described political parties as:
"Their essential functions and true reasons for their existence is bringing public opinion to a focus and framing issues for a public verdict. Their function is to make candidates and programmes known to the public and attract them to those programmes, so that they can speak with a united voice, instead of uttering an unintelligible babel of sound."
Lowell's "Essays on Government" may also be relevant.
2.5 The Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution
Gen. 'Aidid' used the "Bill of Rights" (the first 10 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution) as his model for anchoring modern "human rights" in any new form of governance for the Somali people.
3. Conclusions
The sources cited above were selected by Gen. 'Aidid' and drawn upon in his article, "Democracy in Somalia - its Roots and its Future Scenario", which is included as Chapter 3 in his book, "The Preferred Future Development in Somalia", co-edited with Dr. Satya Pal Ruhela. He later made small revisions in this Chapter and republished it as Chapter 20 in "Somalia: From the Dawn Of Civilization To The Modern Times"]
This background information may be useful in understanding why Gen. 'Aidid' was so disappointed when the U.S. Government refused to support him in implementing his vision combining
the historical democratic traditions of the Somali people with
the more-recent model of democracy in the U.S.A.
Since he fought to successfully overthrow the oppressive Socialist/Communist Dictatorship and tried to replace it with his democratic vision, he had expected and counted upon support from the U.S. Government rather than opposition from them.
Gen. 'Aidid' used his time well as the Somalia Ambassador to India until 1989 to actively develop his vision, goals, and strategy for Somalia; particularly by cooperating with the Indian academic community and commissioning articles by leading Indian scholars on a variety of current problems of Somalia with proposals for solving them. The book, "The Preferred Future Development in Somalia", published in 1993, contains 40 articles or chapters by 33 different Indians experts, with the remaining articles written by himself, his partner and co-editor, or the two of them jointly. His book, "Somalia: From The Dawn of Civilization to The Modern Times" contains 5 out of 31 chapters being taken from his 1st book, particularly in the area of the Somali economy.
The contributions by Gen. 'Aidid' in both books were written almost exclusively by 1989, while he was still in India. After the end of 1989, while Gen. 'Aidid' was on the Horn of Africa directing the militia forces of the USC Liberation Movement in overthrowing the Socialist/Communist Dictatorship, it was largely impractical for him to edit or modify the text in these books.
4. Potential Topics for Discussion in the Discussion Groups of the Somali Civic Web
4.1 Was the democratic vision of Gen. 'Aidid' appropriate for Somalia? Why?
4.2 What were the reasons why Gen. 'Aidid' failed to implement his vision?
4.3 Were the concepts of Gen. 'Aidid' for the Somali economy realistic and could they have worked if implemented?
4.4 What are the concepts from the democratic vision of Gen. 'Aidid' that should have been considered for inclusion in any new form from the past governance of Somalia?
