Relationship between Foreign Intervention and Terrorism: A Case Study of Ethiopia`s Military Intervention in Somalia

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Arts & Sciences in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts in International RelationsThe central goal of this research is to determine the relationship between foreign intervention and terrorism. The study uses Ethiopia`s military intervention in Somalia in late 2006 against the Islamic Courts Union as its focal area of concern. The research findings indicate that there exists a relationship between Ethiopia`s intervention and the rise of Al-Shabaab in Somalia. From a methodological perspective, the research relied on secondary sources of data with a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis used throughout the study. In the course of data analysis the causes, consequences, and legality of Ethiopia`s intervention are examined in depth. The study finds that Ethiopia`s intervention drastically affected the political as well as security landscape inside Somalia. The study finds that by dismantling the Islamic Courts Union, Ethiopia significantly accelerated the rise of Al-Shabaab and the deployment of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The study further goes on to give recommendations to both the International Community as well as to Somalia on policies and strategies on how to combat Al-Shabaab within the region as well as inside Somalia