Somalia has been plagued by civil war, instability and famine for a decade. With the armed group al-Shabab fighting for control the Somali government is struggling to stay in power.

In-depth coverage of the regional political crisis

Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, an academic and a self-professed technocrat who has spent several years in the US, was recently appointed prime minister of Somalia in a government reshuffle. His government managed to take over most of Mogadishu from al-Shabab, but a lot of Somalia remains in the group's hands.

Government forces survive with support from troops of the African Union mission in Somalia known as AMISON, but the prime minister is facing another wave of foreign intervention from countries fed up with al-Shabab.

Kenya has already sent forces, and now there are signs that Ethiopian troops are entering, or may already have entered the country - a move that may prove disastrous. The last time Ethiopian forces entered Somalia 16,000 people were killed and one million displaced.

So will the new prime minister be able to build a functioning state? Can he battle famine and corruption? Or will the country remain a failed state? Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, Somalia's prime minister, talks to Al Jazeera's Sami Zeidan.