Somalia By Ken Menklaus: Article Analysis

The history of Somalia is a bloody one, filled with failed occupation, anarchy and civil war. Early Somalia established itself as a merchant state. Its key geographical location by the natural strait between the Horn of Africa and Yemen made it a focal point for trade.This essay will explore the history of internal struggles of the Somalilands and its many wars. It will investigate the colonial influences and conflicts between Somalia and its imperial occupiers and how these influences set the stage for future conflicts between the clans. Also, it will attempt to define the reasons why Somalia has become a failed state. The importance of United States foreign policies will be discussed as they have

Somalia, which is about the size of Texas, is a small country located in Eastern Africa next to the Indian Ocean. The United States, which is located on the Western Hemisphere, is bordered by Mexico and Canada and is between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

Conflicts within the nation of Somalia were sometimes planned as a means to an end. Whereby the United States Government supported a certain regime before they used their power to gain control of the situation and overthrow the tyrant. In other cases the use of national power was used such as the Islamic Courts Union to gain control over Somalia by implementing logical line of operations by providing the people their needs and services to gain their trust. In these situations it would be considered as an irregular warfare environment, because they were violent struggles

Did you ever know that every country has different cultural values and norms that may cause misunderstanding among cultures around the globe? Of course, I didn’t really know that till I migrated from my country to the USA. A long time ago, I believed that the world was filled with homogenous societies which are based upon one culture only and that culture must be my own culture which I must follow as the ethnocentric standard to all other nations in the world. But later, I had experienced living in multi cultural communities and different continents around the globe, such as Africa and Asia, where getting involved in other people’s lives is very common. As a result of my experience, I have realized that American cultural values have less

I am originally from Somalia a country located in the East Africa also called “Horn of Africa”, bordered by Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. I was born and raised in Kenya. However, both my parents were born and rise in Somalia, they went their school in Mogadishu, Somalia, and built their family there. Five of my siblings, we were born in Mogadishu Somalia, but unfortunately, they did not had the opportunity to experience them early childhood in Somalia. In a brief history the Republic of Somalia has had its ups and downs with unrest, starting with a war, which broke out in the early 90’s. With these conflicts came unbearable life situations and many people searched for opportunities all over the world, mainly the western continents.

Somalia is one of the world's poorest and least developed countries (Campbell). Because of the Civil War, which broke out in 1991, much of Somalia's economy has been devastated. The war left many

Somalia is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, and the Indian Ocean to the east. With the longest coastline on the continent, its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains, and highlands. It is made up of the former British Protectorate of Somaliland and Italy’s former Trust Territory of Somalia. Somalia’s modern history began in the late 1800’s, when European powers began to trade and settle in the Somalia area. These events and the events that occurred during the 20th century helped shape the modern Somalia government and culture today.

As more and more foreign forces made their way into Somalia attention fell on the

Somalia is a country situated in the ÒhornÓ of East Africa. It is bordered by the Gulf of Aden in the north, the Indian Ocean on the east and southeast, Kenya in the southwest, Ethiopia in the west, and Djibouti in the northwest. Somalia is about four times the size of the State of Minnesota, or slightly smaller than Texas. The capital is Mogadishu.

The definition of “Failed States” is that the government can no longer function and cannot provide their citizens with basic needs. The state is not able to provide education for the children, basic security, health care for the sick, or even freedom (Does Terrorism,178). The failure of states is not new, but it is more relevant and worrying than ever. These states pose danger for themselves and their neighbors, including people around the world. However, for hundreds of years, Europeans would slaughter each other and slaughter people elsewhere (Chomsky,188). That’s how they conquered the world. Not simply by handing out candy to babies… Noam Chomsky explains in the book, that it is the strongest states that usually carry out the worst acts of unlawful violence in order to get what they desire.

After the 2012 Tuareg Rebellion, Mali has not recovered from the political unrest. The country has multiple factions fighting for complete power or independence from Mali as a country according to Adolphus Washington of Global Risk Insights. These factions have geographic spheres of influence throughout Northern and Southern Mali which are based on tribal and/or religious origins. Consequently, using Paulette Kurzer’s definition of a state being a country with a supreme power to make and enforce; Mali does not meet these requirements. There are too many local areas whom are being ruled by various factions to say that the national government meets the requirements to be a state. Not only has the Malian government failed on multiple occasions, Mali has required French intervention to enforce the law when the government was incapable. Therefore, the government of Mali is not a supreme power over the divided nation, leaving it unable to create or enforce laws to help the country.

Located on the Horn of Africa, Somalia is a small country colonized in the late 1880s by Britain, Italy and France. In the 1960s, Somalia gained its independence but remained a very unstable place. In 1969, a group overthrew the government and Mohammed Siad Barre, the general of the group, became Somalia’s president and dictator until 1991.

Somalia’s pirates did not start off as desperate bandits. Instead, they were once as Somalia’s fishermen. So what happened? Due to the second phase of the Somali Civil War, the government of Somalia stopped functioning in 1991, the Somali coastline and waters “have become the site of an international ‘free for all,’” which many fishing fleets from around the world were stealing Somali goods and stocks, as well as dumping toxic waste materials. Somali fishermen were forced over the years to defend their fishing expeditions, many of them were forced to become pirates to use extreme measures to take back what it is theirs. Such extreme measures include hijacking ships and unlicensed fishermen who crosses their path, and hold them for ransom.

“Ghana’s history is a metaphor for what occurred in the immediate aftermath of independence in Africa,” is a quote by Kofi Awoonor, Ghana’s leading literary figure and one of Africa’s most acclaimed authors. Three of his poems illustrate the hardships and trials that the Africans faced after their claim of independence from Britain. As said by Awoonor himself, “...high hopes were crushed by the greed, corruption, and lust for power…”. The author uses multiple literary devices as a way to emphasize the adversities they faced. Kofi Awoonor symbolizes the downfall of Ghana after independence through the use of theme, mood, and symbolism in his Three Poems.

No global definition exists for states described as “fragile”, “failing”, or failed because they come in all shapes and sizes. Yet, countries that have failed at the basic responsibilities of governance and sovereign authority are generally lumped into this group. Fragile, failing, or failed states share similar characteristics including their inability to control their borders, loss of authority over insurgents, gangs, and warlords, and loss of legitimacy internally/internationally. Examples relevant today of countries that are fragile or failing, and on the path to failed status include Iraq and many of the Middle Eastern countries struggling to maintain their autonomy in the fight against ISIS. Other important indicators of failed states include: