From ‘Roving’ to ‘Stationary’ Actors: Understanding the Territorial Logic of Al Shabaab in Somalia

ABSTRACT

Non-state armed actors’ (NSAAs) control of territory is not a completely new phenomenon in international politics. However, NSAAs resurgence in the conceptualization and demarcation of both physical and imaginary territorial space has raised the need for a further understanding of their territorial logic. Non-state armed actors continue to seize, occupy, and control territory in a manner that undermines Westphalia tenets of statehood, including sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence. This article attempts to shed some light on the understanding of the territorial logic of NSAAs by innovatively combining three independent and interrelated components that have emerged from NSAAs territorial control. These components include NSAA territorial governance, relations with local civilian populations and ideology guided territorial tactics and strategies. We apply the results to the typical and contemporary case of Al Shabaab in Somalia to generate critical insights into NSAA conceptualization, control and demarcation of physical and imaginary space.

KEYWORDS:

• Al Shabaab
• civilian relations
• governance
• ideology
• Non-state armed actors (NSAAs)
• tactics and strategies
• territorial logic

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/19392206.2024.2327121

Notes

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