The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) published on 11 October 2017 an analysis titled "How the Gulf Crisis Is Destabilising Somalia" by Omar S. Mahmood, Addis Ababa-based researcher for ISS.
The author concludes that the dispute between Saudi Arabia/UAE and Qatar has highlighted major tensions in Somalia's fragile state-building process, demonstrating how easily this federalism project can become unhinged by outside players.