The failed state of Somalia is set to assume the presidency of the United Nations Security Council in January.
Despite being a largely ceremonial role, it has nonetheless been hailed by diplomats as a major milestone in the country’s international standing.
For one month, Somalia will be tasked with steering the council’s routine business, including setting meeting agendas, chairing sessions, and overseeing debates on global peace and security.
While the presidency carries no real executive power, it does allow the holder to play host to discussions on some of the world’s most entrenched conflicts.
During its brief stint, Somalia is expected to highlight familiar UN priorities such as peacekeeping operations, counterterrorism initiatives, regional instability, and humanitarian crises linked to war and climate shocks like drought.
Somalia has struggled with instability since the collapse of its central government in 1991, spending decades marked by civil war, weak institutions, and fragmented authority.
The federal government in Mogadishu continues to rely heavily on international assistance, including African Union forces, to combat the al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabaab, which still carries out regular attacks.
Meanwhile, there has been growing scrutiny on America’s Somali population amid increasing evidence that they have been involved in massive social security fraud.
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota recently uncovered industrial-scale fraud targeting state-run, federally funded social programs.
Hellbound and Down 