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During recent weeks in Somalia, Foreign Minister聽Abdusalam Omer 鈥�77聽has welcomed a string of ambassadors to the capital city of Mogadishu, including聽. These are fairly routine events in the life of a foreign minister, but the challenge taken on by this Carroll School graduate is anything but ordinary.

Somalia is a failed state鈥攚ith a government that collapsed after years of civil warfare that is still ongoing. Omer isn鈥檛 trying to simply improve public works and institutions in what the World Bank ranks as the world鈥檚 fifth poorest nation. He鈥檚 helping to recreate them. And he鈥檚 doing so as an American who left his homeland in the early 1970s.

At the time, Omer came here to study at the Carroll School, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in economics. He stayed in the United States and became a U.S. citizen, receiving his Ph.D. in public administration at the University of Tennessee. His credentials for helping to bring back failed institutions were established in the District of Columbia, where he was instrumental in turning around schools and city services.

鈥淏etween D.C. and Somalia, it鈥檚 just a question of magnitude,鈥� Omer聽聽last spring. Starting in the early 1990s, he held a series of posts in the District including chief of staff to former D.C. mayor Tony Williams and chief business operations officer for the D.C. public schools. He was widely credited with helping to restore fiscal order and sound management to city agencies and the school system.

He returned to Somalia a couple of times and has been there since 2013, when he was appointed head of the country鈥檚 central bank. The role was somewhat aspirational鈥攇iven that there were 鈥渘o functioning commercial banks 鈥� to regulate,鈥� as聽. Omer began the work of stabilizing the currency, and in February 2015 was appointed foreign minister.

It is not a job for anyone with a reasonable expectation of workplace safety.

鈥淓ach morning, Omer climbs into a bulletproof SUV for the drive to his office, surrounded by young, armed men in green uniforms,鈥� 迟丑别听Post聽reported. 鈥淗e lives behind layers of blast barriers in a city where al-Qaeda-allied rebels regularly target government officials. Several of his friends have been killed.鈥� His wife and children have remained in D.C.

There are semblances of normality returning to Somalia, however. One sign is the reopening of the U.S. embassy in Mogadishu, which closed in 1993 when 18 American soldiers were killed by rebels in what became known as the 鈥淏lack Hawk Down鈥� incident. After presenting his credentials to Omer, new U.S. Ambassador Stephen Schwartz issued a statement calling his arrival 鈥渁 sign of the strong bonds between our two countries. I am pleased to have this opportunity to help the people of Somalia build a peaceful nation with a stable democratic government.鈥�

Various countries are pressing Omer to undertake a range of initiatives: the U.S., for example, wants Somalia to develop counterterrorism operations. The Carroll School alum makes it clear, however, that the country first has to master Public Administration 101.

Omer recalls that last spring, a United Nations official asked him about his short-term goals as minister in a fledgling government. 鈥淚 want to have clean bathrooms and I want people to answer their e-mails,鈥� he replied. 鈥淵ou have to be realistic.鈥�