Council on Foreign Relations report released today: “Somalia: A New Approach”. For a summary, start with the accompanying interview titled “Disengaging with Somalia” with the author, Bronwyn Bruton.

In the meantime, Simon Tisdale in The Guardian has asked “Is the Tide Turning in Somalia?–A new offensive against Islamist militias is a sign of hope for Somalia’s fragile western-backed government.

In today’s New York Times, Jeffrey Gettleman and Neil MacFarquhar report on a leaked Security Council report: “Somalia Food Aid Bypasses the Needy, UN Study Says”

Nairobi has been full of talk of a new offensive for weeks, with various editorials suggesting that the TFG could finally win with proper outside military support. See my previous post for comment on Bronwyn Bruton’s essay on the Quicksands of Somalia in Foreign Affairs.