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Somalia

Decent Essays

From Tranquility to Turmoil: Imperialism in Somalia No force has had a greater impact on modern nations and their cultures than imperialism. Imperialism is a policy of extending a nation’s rule over foreign areas by acquiring and holding colonies. During the nineteenth century in particular, imperialism became a trend among wealthy European nations such as Great Britain, France, and Italy, as countries competed to gain resources and expand their empires. In enforcing these policies, imperial powers spread numerous effects over the span of the globe. The question is, were the effects of imperialism beneficial or detrimental to the colonized nations? For the nation of Somalia, it is clear that imperialism was nothing but a perversion of …show more content…

Originally Somalia was on the road to a democratic government; the Somali people ratified a new constitution on July 20, 1961 and elected Aden Abdullah Osman Daar as president and Abdirashid Ali Shermarke as prime minister (“Italian Somaliland” 3). However, the British government failed to prepare the Somalis for independence. As a result, Somalia, though its goals were to unite and form a stable democratic government, has only cycled through corruption, from the autocracy of Siad Barre to Farrah Aydid’s corrupt rule in 1991, a government so destructive it was followed by anarchy (“Somalia Post-Independence” 1-3). Had European imperial powers not interfered in Somalia’s development, it might not have begun moving in the direction of a modern democracy but it would have remained functional and peaceful as an Arab sultanate. But since imperial powers did interfere, Somalia was not prepared to stand on its own when given independence, and as a result is in a volatile position and is widely regarded as a “failed state” according to the Economist (“Poll” 1). The turbulence in Somalia’s government that followed the period of imperial rule would not have occurred had Britain and Italy never interfered in the first place, thus showing that imperialism leads to governmental instability. In addition to problems in government, the Somalian economy’s decreasing level of prosperity over time

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