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Matthew Bryden

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Matthew Bryden
Born1965 or 1966 (age 58–59)
Canada
NationalityCanadian
Other namesMatt Bryden
Alma materUpper Canada College
OccupationDirector at Sahan Research
Known forHorn of Africa political analysis
Children3

Matthew Bryden is a Canadian political analyst. From 2004 to 2006, he served as the Horn of Africa Director for the International Crisis Group (ICG). He was later appointed coordinator of the UN's Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group (UNSEMG) in 2008, where he oversaw monitoring of a 2002 arms embargo in Somalia. Bryden was dismissed from the post in August 2012. As of 2013, he is serving as a Director at Sahan Research, a Nairobi-based think tank.

Bryden has been a supporter of the secessionist movement in the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia. Critics have argued that he misused his positions within the SEMG and the earlier ICG in order to advance the secessionist cause in Somaliland.

Early life and education

Matthew Bryden was born between 1965 and 1966 in the UK and was raised in Canada.[1][2] He attended Upper Canada College in Toronto, where he graduated in 1985.[3] As of 2010, he was enrolled in the doctoral program at King's College London researching modern jihadist movements in Somalia.[4]

Career

Early career

Bryden started his career as an infantry officer in the Canadian Forces Reserve.[4] In 1987, he went to Africa as a tourist while on military leave and traveled through Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. After witnessing the conditions of war during the rebellion of the Holy Spirit movement in Uganda, he decided to work for an aid program. In January 1988, Bryden was hired by the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) program to fill in registration forms in southwestern Somalia.[5]

When his one-year contract with CARE ended, Bryden joined the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in 1990 in Berbera. He was put in charge of the operation after his boss broke his hip diving out of the way of bullets fired by a disgruntled, unpaid employee, and was subsequently sent back to Mogadishu. Bryden was on half-year work contracts with the organization. According to him, his driver at the Berbera office, who also served as a local field assistant, first apprised him of the Somali National Movement (SNM) rebel group and its purpose.[6] In August 1990, the UN started evacuating non-essential staff, and Bryden was reassigned to Nairobi against his wishes. Although he was ordered not to return and prohibited from boarding official UN flights, Bryden purchased a Somali Airlines commercial ticket to Mogadishu in December of the year, as rebels were marching toward the city to topple the central government.[7]

In 1992, Bryden was appointed Canadian Ambassador's Special Advisor. He also led the War-torn Societies Project (WSP) from 1996 to 2003.[4] While with the WSP, Bryden published a paper called "New Hope for Somalia? Building Block Approach," in Review of African Political Economy.[8]

From 2004 to 2006, Bryden was the Horn of Africa Director for the International Crisis Group (ICG).[4] He also served as a Senior Advisor to the WSP International Somali Program. In July 2004, Bryden chaired and led a conference in London organized by the Somaliland International Recognition Action Group (SIRAG), an advocacy group seeking international recognition for the secessionist Somaliland region in northwestern Somalia.[9] From 2007 to 2008, Bryden served as an adviser on Somali affairs for the United States' USAID bureau and the US embassy.[4]

Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea (SEMG)

In 2008, Bryden was appointed Coordinator of the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia (SEG), which had been set up to monitor violations of the 1992 arms embargo on Somalia.[10][11] The SEG was later renamed the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea (SEMG) in March 2010. Bryden was retained on the panel despite objections from some parties.[10] Bryden said the group would consider any munitions delivered to Somalia to be a breach of the embargo.[11]

According to author Michelle Shephard, Bryden during his time with the SEMG believed that since the September 11 attacks, the US government only engaged Somalia from an exclusively counter-terrorism perspective, with little political and humanitarian engagement. Bryden argued that the US' support of the Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopia, and its opposition to the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), would eventually lead to the growth of the ICU through increased financial and human support from disgruntled anti-Western groups.[1]

According to journalist Robert Young Pelton, under Bryden's tenure, the SEMG went from "a dry accounting of militias and weapons," to reports that "took on a bizarre and voluminous tone accusing both friend and foe of serious violations."[11] Pelton also accused Bryden of "tak[ing] an unsual interest in endorsing the success of Somaliland" while ignoring that of Somalia's other regions.[12]

In 2010, Puntland President Abdirahman Farole suggested that Bryden was an impartial figure vis-a-vis Somali affairs, and that the SEMG's reports under his tenure were not objective but instead "politically-motivated". He asserted that Bryden supported the separatist cause in Somaliland and was married to a well-connected woman from the region's dominant clan, the Isaaq. According to Farole, Bryden consequently sought to portray Puntland and neighboring regions in a negative light, on the belief that this would influence the international community to follow suit and thereby improve the odds of Somaliland gaining recognition as an independent country.[13]

In 2012, after another report by the SEMG was leaked accusing Sharif Sheikh Ahmed of corruption, Ahmed spent 30 minutes of a July speech criticizing Bryden directly. Sharif rebuked the criticisms in the paper, asserting that Bryden was "against peace in Somalia" and that the report was "timed to coincide with the end of [the] transition period in order to discredit the TFG". He also commended the UN Security Council's efforts, but expressed reservations that the "Monitoring Group and Matt Bryden is [the] wrong approach for Somalia's peace and development."[14]

In August 2012, Inner City Press reported that the UN had dismissed Bryden from his position on the Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group after the UN had received "detailed complaints" about him.[15][16][17] The 15-member UN Security Council later also unanimously approved Resolution 2093 on March 6, 2013 to lift the 21-year arms embargo on Somalia.[18]

Sahan Research

As of 2013, Bryden was serving as a Director at Sahan Research, an independent Nairobi-based think tank.[19][20]

Personal life

Bryden has spent most of his adult life in Somalia and adjacent nations.[1] As of 2011, Bryden, his Somali wife and three kids lived in Nairobi, Kenya.[21][22] They previously resided in Hargeisa, Somaliland, Somalia.[3]

Bryden speaks Somali, with no discernible English accent.[1] He reportedly also holds a Somaliland passport.[12]

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ a b c d Michelle Shephard (2011). Decade of Fear: Reporting from Terrorism's Grey Zone. Douglas & McIntyre. pp. 50–. ISBN 978-1-55365-659-3. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  2. ^ Michael Maren (24 November 2009). The Road to Hell. Free Press. p. 184. ISBN 978-1-4391-8841-5. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  3. ^ a b Upper Canada College (2000). "Summer 2000" (PDF). Old Times (Summer). Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Speakers' Biographies" (PDF). Geneva Peacebuilding Platform. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  5. ^ Michael Maren (24 November 2009). The Road to Hell. Free Press. pp. 182–183. ISBN 978-1-4391-8841-5. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  6. ^ Michael Maren (24 November 2009). The Road to Hell. Free Press. pp. 183–184. ISBN 978-1-4391-8841-5. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  7. ^ Michael Maren (24 November 2009). The Road to Hell. Free Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-4391-8841-5. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  8. ^ Bryden, Matt (1999). "New hope for Somalia? The building block approach". Review of African Political Economy. 26 (79). Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  9. ^ "Conference on Peace, Security and Development in the Horn of Africa". Somaliland Times. 2 July 2004. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  10. ^ a b "Eritrea: A Long Way from Getting Sanctions Lifted". Ethiopian Journal. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  11. ^ a b c Pelton, Robert (September 20, 2012). "Hijacked". Foreign Policy. Retrieved September 2, 2013. Cite error: The named reference "one" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  12. ^ a b Young, Robert (July 28, 2011), "Latest UN Monitoring Report Released", Somalia Report, retrieved September 2, 2013
  13. ^ James Fergusson (28 May 2013). The World's Most Dangerous Place: Inside the Outlaw State of Somalia. Da Capo Press, Incorporated. pp. 72–. ISBN 978-0-306-82158-5. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  14. ^ "UN Monitoring Group is against peace in Somalia, says President Sharif". Garowe Online. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  15. ^ Lee, Matthew Russell (6 December 2013). "As Sudan Blocks UN Sanctions Expert Schbley, Bryden Echo, Juba Parallel". Inner City Press. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  16. ^ Ki-Moon. "Security Council" (PDF). United Nations.
  17. ^ Lee, Matthew (August 21, 2012). "On Eritrea, Bryden & Schbley Are Gone, When Might Hege Follow On DRC?". Inner City Press. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  18. ^ "Security Council extends mandate of UN monitoring group on Somalia and Eritrea". AAP. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  19. ^ Fletcher, Pascal (May 26, 2013). "Analysis: Africa defense force never more needed but still a paper tiger". Reuters. Retrieved September 23, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "Somali president names political newcomer as PM, urges unity". Reuters. October 6, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2013.
  21. ^ Upper Canada College (2011). "Class Notes". Old Times. Summer/Fall. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  22. ^ "War-torn societies project in practice" (PDF). War-torn Societies Project. Retrieved 17 September 2013.

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