October 12, 2009 11:49AM # Somalia, Redux: A More Hands-Off Approach By Cato Editors --- SHARE ![Somalia](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/Somalia1.jpg?itok=PFhzJIM7) The two-decade-old conflict in Somalia has entered a new phase, which presents both a challenge and an opportunity for the United States. To best encourage peace in the devastated country, Washington needs a new strategy that takes into account hard-learned lessons from multiple failed U.S. interventions. In [a new study](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10617), author David Axe argues that Washington should err on the side of nonintervention, and recommends: > The Obama administration should work to build a regional framework for reconciliation, the rule of law, and economic development that acknowledges the unique risks of intervention in East Africa.…**Somalia’s best hope for peace is the moderate Islamic government that has emerged from the most recent rounds of fighting, despite early opposition from the United States and its allies**. There are ways in which the United States could help Somalia escape its cycle of violence and peacefully encourage progress by working with this former enemy, but **Washington should err on the side of nonintervention.** [Read the whole thing. ](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10617) ##### Related Tags [Defense and Foreign Policy](https://www.cato.org/defense-foreign-policy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).