" title="External link to: "(external)Council of Foreign Relations, _What Role Should the US Play in Somalia?_ , May 30, 2007":http://www.cfr.org/publication/13425/what_role_should_the_us_play_in_somalia
" class="external">CFR Debates US Policy Options in Post-Conflict Somalia

In May 2007, the Council of Foreign Relations featured an online debate on America’s role in Somalia. The discussion was lead by moderators Terrence Lyons, associate professor at the Institute for conflict Analysis and Resolution, and Sadia Ali Aden, president of the Somali Diaspora Network.
Lyons spoke about Somali skepticism towards Washington resulting from recent US military engagements and America’s ties to Ethiopia. Ali Aden urged the US to end its alliance with Ethiopia and to develop a clear policy on Somalia.
The US maintains strategic interests in the stability and reconstruction of Somalia in order to ensure that local violence does not spread throughout the region and exacerbate other conflicts.