Saman Ayesha Kidwai

Saman Ayesha Kidwai is a Research Analyst (Counter Terrorism Centre) at MP-IDSA. She joined the institute in August 2021. She holds a Master’s degree in Conflict Analysis and Peacebuilding from the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia. Her areas of interest include political violence, counter-terrorism, and geopolitics, primarily within South Asia, West Asia, and the Horn of Africa. Among her publications across different forums, one of her notable works includes, “The Rise of Iran as a Regional Power,” in the India Quarterly Journal.


Research Analyst

Publication

Al-Shabaab in Somalia: Terrorist Trends in the Pandemic Years

Challenges, such as weak infrastructure and ill-equipped armed forces, corruption, pandemic, and drought, have become intrinsic to Somalia, mutually reinforcing each other. Additionally, they have been exploited by terrorists to advance their Islamist cause. While re-evaluating counter-terrorism strategies to defeat al-Shabaab, the allied partners should carefully consider these factors’ role in sustaining the insurgency and address the security crisis – state and human security – accordingly.