Recorded: November 27, 2018

For non-subscribers, here is a 30+ minute preview of Radio War Nerd episode 158 on Somalia and the Al-Shabaab jihadist insurgency, with Harun Maruf and Dan Joseph, co-authors of a new book "Inside Al-Shabaab: The Secret History of Al Qaeda's Most Powerful Ally" . . . Maruf and Joseph take us back through Somali history, explaining how clan structure works in an otherwise homogenous society; how Somalia had traditionally been one of the most stable regions in Africa; who the Islamic Courts were; and how the key figures who founded the radical Al Qaeda offshoot, Al-Shabaab, played a very long game with roots in the Soviet-Afghanistan War mujahideen . . . 

Would you like to know more? Subscribe to Radio War Nerd here on our patreon page, to listen to the entire episode 158 and all previous locked episodes. Depending on your pledge, you can also get our downloadable RSS feed for your podcast app, the Radio War Nerd Newsletter, Show Notes and more...  

Buy their book "Inside Al-Shabaab: The Secret History of Al Qaeda's Most Powerful Ally." 

Harun Maruf is senior editor of VOA's Somalia service; Dan Joseph is editor of VOA's Africa desk. Follow Harun Maruf on Twitter. Follow Dan Joseph on Twitter.