Security Council set to lift Somalia arms embargo

The UN Security Council appears ready to end its long-standing arms embargo on Somalia. In January 1992, with the country torn by internal violence and ravaged by famine, the Council ordered all states to "immediately implement a general and complete embargo on all deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Somalia until the Council decides ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

The UN Security Council appears ready to end its long-standing arms embargo on Somalia. In January 1992, with the country torn by internal violence and ravaged by famine, the Council ordered all states to "immediately implement a general and complete embargo on all deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Somalia until the Council decides otherwise." The embargo has remained in place since that time, although it has been amended to facilitate a regional peacekeeping mission and to allow the delivery of equipment to the transitional government. (A good summary of the embargo's history can be found here.)

The UN Security Council appears ready to end its long-standing arms embargo on Somalia. In January 1992, with the country torn by internal violence and ravaged by famine, the Council ordered all states to "immediately implement a general and complete embargo on all deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Somalia until the Council decides otherwise." The embargo has remained in place since that time, although it has been amended to facilitate a regional peacekeeping mission and to allow the delivery of equipment to the transitional government. (A good summary of the embargo’s history can be found here.)

Somalia’s still weak federal government has made lifting the embargo a priority. It insists that, amendments notwithstanding, the embargo hampers its ability to confront Islamist rebels that still control swathes of the country. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has backed Somalia’s request. The case for lifting the embargo isn’t persuasive to all Council members, however. By most accounts, Britain and France are wary. Reuters’ Michelle Nichols reports that they are advancing a compromise measure that would keep some limitations in place:

The draft resolution, drawn up by Britain and obtained by Reuters, appears to propose a compromise: lifting the arms embargo for one year but keeping restrictions in place on heavy weapons such as surface to air missiles, howitzers and cannons.

The draft resolution says the arms embargo shall not apply to the deliveries of other "weapons or military equipment or the provision of advice, assistance or training, intended solely for the development of the security forces of the federal government of Somalia and to provide security for the Somali people."

It says that these weapons and equipment "may not be resold to, transferred to, or made available for use by, any individual or entity not in the service of the security forces of the federal government of Somalia." 

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.