My interests in politics and specifically the diaspora and its relationship with home and host countries can be traced back to leaving Somalia at a young age to attend boarding school in Egypt. Often, I couldn’t wait for summer holidays to start so I could get out of Cairo and go home to Somalia. When I did get to Somalia, within a few days I was missing Cairo. This sense of being comfortable in both places but where neither was truly home, home in that you would not want to leave, continues to be with me today. Having Somalia collapse as a state just as I was ready to go back and settle there permanently added to this feeling of being alienated and comfortable wherever I lived. And it is this sense of being simultaneously within and without that animates my academic interests. My dissertation research deals with the ways that the Somali diaspora uses remittances to not only support family but also contribute to development and to conflict. Most research dealing with remittance flows and diaspora relations with home have portrayed it as a positive contribution and something that many developing countries should pursue. It is only recently that diasporic use of remittances to fund rebel groups has been examined. The way that remittances play out in Somalia is unique in that Somalia has remained without a government for the past 15 years. In using Somalia as a case example, I hope to shed light on the ways in which remittances can be used for development purposes, while limiting its negative consequences. My other area of interest is on women, and particularly Somali women and their role within Somali society. For me, Somali women are very strong and resourceful and are the backbone of Currently, I am a graduate student in the Somali society. Living within a patriarchal society, they appear often to go along with the position allocated to them as second class. But in examining their activities and their oral culture, especially in songs, poetry and stories and the way they raise their daughters, it can be seen that they are continuously challenging and undermining patriarchal institutions and cultures. Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin where my areas of study are comparative politics, Africa and political theory. I have a Master’s degree in political science from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago and a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from Idaho State University. My hope is that my dissertation research can contribute both academically as well as within the policy arena. Academically, I hope to shed light on how we need to rethink the state and its role within a globalized world. I also hope to rethink the meaning of citizenship, particularly as more states bestow citizenship rights previously restricted to those living within their borders. Within developed nations, increasing attention has been paid to migration and how to keep people from developing nations within their own countries. In analyzing the uses of remittances, it may be possible to more effectively enhance their development potential while limiting or eliminating their contribution to violence.