On 22 February 2013, the Rift Valley Institute’s Nairobi Forum hosted an event entitled ‘Somalia’s Jubaland: Past, present and potential futures’. Jubaland has been one of the most heavily fought over regions of Somalia—but with its perennial river, fertile soils and the port city of Kismayo it has the potential to be one of Somalia’s most productive regions. The social bonds that bind and divide populations across the borders of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, give this region a particularly important regional significance. This has been made abundantly clear by the presence of Kenyan and Ethiopian military forces in the region. The Nairobi Forum event was chaired by RVI Fellow Cedric Barnes, of the International Crisis Group.