Press Release: Somalia: A Country in Peril, A Policy Nightmare

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Eileen White Read (ENOUGH Project), 202-741-6376
eread@enoughproject.org

WHAT: Release of ENOUGH Project report on Somalia: A Country in Peril, A Policy Nightmare

WHO: Howard Wolpe, Director, Africa Program, Wilson Center

------- Ken Menkhaus, Ph.D, professor of Political Science, Davidson College

------- Chris Albin-Lackey, Senior Researcher, Africa Division of Human Rights Watch

WHEN: Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - 10:00 to 11:30AM

WHERE: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 5th Floor Auditorium, Ronald Reagan Building, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC

The Wilson Center's Africa Program and the Enough Project of the Center for American Progress invite you to a panel discussion and release of a new report, “Somalia: A Country in Peril, A Policy Nightmare," written by Ken Menkhaus, an expert on the Horn of Africa, former political advisor to the UN Operation in Somalia and, since 1991, Professor of Political Science at Davidson College, Davidson, N.C.

The report presents the current humanitarian and political crisis in Somalia, in the context of its almost two-decade-long crisis, and the complex patterns of international, regional and local dynamics that have contributed to and sustained it. Mr. Menkhaus will lead a discussion of the global significance of this crisis, and the implications of the current political, social and security changes that are occurring in Somalia.

Joining Mr. Menkhaus will be Chris Albin-Lackey, a Senior Researcher in the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, where he covers the Horn of Africa and conducts research on documenting patterns of human rights abuse associated with all sides to the ongoing conflict in Somalia.

The panel will be moderated by Howard Wolpe, Director of the Wilson Center's Africa Program. Ambassador Wolpe is a former seven-term Member of Congress and a former Presidential Special Envoy to Africa's Great Lakes Region.

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About the ENOUGH Project – ENOUGH is a project of the Center for American Progress to end genocide and crimes against humanity. With an initial focus on the crises in Darfur, Chad, eastern Congo, and northern Uganda, ENOUGH’s strategy papers and briefings provide sharp field analysis and targeted policy recommendations based on a “3P” crisis response strategy: promoting durable peace, providing civilian protection, and punishing perpetrators of atrocities. ENOUGH works with concerned citizens, advocates, and policy makers to prevent, mitigate, and resolve these crises. To learn more about ENOUGH and what you can do to help, go to www.enoughproject.org.