Al-Shabab Governance

In late June 2018 the Somali insurgent movement Al-Shabaab announced a ban on plastic bags, citing environmental concerns and impact on livestock. The few international media outlets that reported on this development, as well as most social media commentary, immediately ridiculed the decision. Rukmini Callimachi of the New York Times, for example, cited mocking tweets calling al-Shabaab the world’s “first eco-friendly terrorist group…”