Shortly before he became prime minister of Somalia last fall, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed reached out to a Washington, D.C., public relations firm for help. If ever there was a country in need of an image makeover, it was Somalia.
The U.N. Security Council upbraided the country for its persistent use of child soldiers; murderous Somali pirates were abducting hostages and making headlines; and an Islamic insurgency was linked to al-Qaeda. Making matters worse diplomatically, Somalia had been accused of mismanaging international humanitarian funds--a 2010 U.N. Security Council report indicated half of its $850 million in food aid was stolen.
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