*This is a closed session*

FES and IPSS are re-establishing their monthly Breakfast Meeting Series on topics related to peace and security issues in the Horn of Africa. The first meeting in this series will take place on 7 July 2022. It will focus on the regional implications of the re-election of  Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the associated geostrategic realignments in the immediate region and beyond.

Somalia’s internal situation is likely to continue facing challenges that already existed pre-elections, and altering the course of internal political and security developments may require courageous measures. At the same time, the geopolitical implications of recent developments already stand out rather clearly: Indications of shifting strategic alignments manifested themselves immediately following the announcement of the election results. Somalia assumed center stage when it comes to raising the attention of local, regional, and international actors contending for geopolitical influence in the peace, security, and cooperation matrix of the broader region. This may have implications for these actors reconsidering overall orientations and rationale in engaging in the region. Against this background, current peace and security arrangements, as well as inter-governmental interactions, are likely to undergo changes.

The first session of the IPSS-FES Breakfast Meeting Series aims at establishing an open atmosphere for a consultative meeting where experts in the respective field will jointly assess the overall implications of developments in Somalia and related dynamics in the context of peace, security, and stability of the Greater Horn Region. The event will be limited to a small number of participants, by invitation only, closed, and strictly confidential. This should allow policymakers, researchers, the diplomatic community, and representatives of various stakeholders to jointly examine the issue with the objective of constructively informing the nature and course of their engagements in the region.