Somalia has been without a functional government since the 1991 revolution against Siad Barre. Numerous warlords fought each other and remnants of the Central Government to gain control, but no one was successful. The UN and the US tried intervening between 1992-95 and failed miserably. An enduring image of this failed operation was the body of an American soldier being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu. Since then, Somaliland and Puntland have declared independence, but have not been recognized by a single country.

After 2001, the US again tried intervening in Somalia by creating the Transitional Federal Government, a completely dysfunctional authority, considered to be a puppet government within Somalia. TFG has failed to unite and consolidate its power over Mogadishu, let alone all of Somalia.

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