Meanings
- international relationsgeopoliticsThe point at which foreign involvement in a conflict shifts from peacekeeping or diplomacy to combat operations.
I was surprised. I was also happy. It suggested to me that the Mogadishu line—that invisible mark across which US troops would never again step—had been erased.
2003 July 5, Fergal Keane, “Good news: the United States has decided to cross the 'Mogadishu line'”, in The Independent, archived from the original on 06 Aug 20221 more example
For long before the United States was forced to confront the horror of its dead servicemen being dragged naked through the dusty streets of Mogadishu, ‘the crossing of the Mogadishu line’ came to be a test of the international community's resolve in dealing with intractable violence of the post-Cold War era.
2000 April 29, Peter Beaumont, “Injustice of the peace”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
Origin
In reference to the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Mogadishu line. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mogadishu%20line
“Mogadishu line.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mogadishu%20line. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Mogadishu line,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mogadishu%20line.
Source: Mogadishu line on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.