Somalia appears on the brink of another seismic political change. Under growing political strain and losing ground to a resurgent Al-Shabaab, the possibility of Mogadishu's fall or negotiated capitulation to the jihadists in the coming months continues to grow. With Al-Shabaab rapidly taking advantage of the growing political chaos, Somalia's transitional federal project is more imperilled than ever. The country's regression from a fragile state to a failing one seems increasingly inevitable.
Somalia's incumbent political elite remains engaged in a grand national self-construal project to recast the image of the country. At the enterprise's core is the notion that Somalia is 'rising' or 'risen,' and the narrative is becoming ever more feverish and urgent. It is partly animated by 'positive psychology'; the desire, perhaps, to project a 'positive image' of Somalia and boost Somali self-esteem, but it is also driven by a negative impulse – hostility to the 'fragile state' lens through which most of the world views Somalia.