Somalia's recent history is sad and confusing. The war-torn country has had 14 governments in 15 years; none has been able to stabilize the country. Most recently, Ethiopia sent troops into Somalia to drive the ruling Union of Islamic Courts from power and restore the government of President Abdullahi Yusuf. This restoration, however, will be temporary too if the Ethiopian troops do not withdraw and the Somalis do not forge a unity government.
Somalia unraveled in 1991, when then President Muhammad Siad Barre was forced from power after 22 years of socialist rule. The country descended into chaos with warlords asserting control of their own fiefdoms. They flooded the country with arms as well, ensuring lawlessness and destroying whatever civil society existed. The chaos resulted in U.S. humiliation when 18 of its special-forces soldiers were killed during a raid to capture warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid, an incident captured in the film "Black Hawk Down."
Something resembling fatigue set in by the year 2000; two internationally negotiated transitional administrations were created. The Transitional Federal Institutions was established in October 2004 with a five-year mandate, but it never managed to establish its authority and displace the warlords. Instead, a group of Islamic guerrillas calling itself the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) last June managed to take control of the capital of Mogadishu and large parts of the south. The Islamists used a common religion to unite the fractious clans and warlords. The promise of peace also helped win over many Somalis.