Kenneth Menkhaus is Professor of Political Science at Davidson College, where he has taught since 1991. His specialisation in the Horn of Africa has focused primarily on development, conflict analysis, peacebuilding and political Islam, involving both academic research and policy work. In 1993–94, he served as special political advisor in the UN Operation in Somalia. He is author ofThe crisis in Somalia: tragedy in five acts in African Affairs (2007) and Somalia: A Country in Peril, A Policy Nightmare (2008). He has been the Director of Studies of the RVI Horn of Africa Course since 2008.