ИСТИНА

This paper addresses domestic cultural- political actors in ongoing Somalia conflict – ethnic clans. In Somalia, ethnic clans act stakeholders in the process of peacemaking, as they often perform their activities as mediators between local population, military bands and formations, economic enterprises and traditional general jurisdiction courts in form of court of sharia. This research assesses patronate-based elites as stakeholders and actors of peacemaking process in failed state of Somalia. The structure, essential features and modes of operation of these actors of peacemaking in Somalia, as well as the impact they produce on the system of security in the region of North-East Africa, will be scrutinized in this paper. However, all presently researched de-facto actors in somalia peace process seem to fall out from conventional methodological approach towards assessing elites in conflict zones, so this paper aims to present new questions and possible ways of addressing these de-facto actors in Somalia. Clans as culturally preconditioned groups act as focal actors in traditional cultures and societies. Thus it is clans that predetermine key political processes of the whole Somalian society, and all political, economic and social interactions are centered around them. This is how the classic cultural dimension in Somalian context acts as a political power in itself and takes on the leading role in peacebuilding process in this war-torn country. Clans as cultural-political actors are determined by patrilineal descent and membership can be as large as several hundred thousand members. Organizational structure in Somali clans is based on authoritarian principles and nepotism. This leads to Clientelism, as it remains one of the basic principles of recruitment of elites in Somalia and political and economic tradition still plays a foremost role, which results in internal uncertainty. For each actor, 5 aspects shall be assessed: clan interests in the current conflict, relations with other clans and overall influence on the ongoing conflict, clan’s capacity to influence the conflict, clan’s peace agenda, and incentives to progress to peace. Methodologically, for purposes of this paper the methods of case study, comparative analysis and chronological assessment are applied. With these 5 aspects of ethnic relationships, their stakes and visions of peace, a broader pathway to Somalia peace may be addressed. In this paper, present methodological challenges in assessing Somalia clans as elites within conflict zones, shall be presented for discussion.