Somalia's History of Hunger, Violence and Distress Essay

It is worth noting that Somalis are a mostly homogenous population. Specifically, they share a common language, religion (mostly Sunni Muslim, minority Shi'i) and a common historical identity. The main source of internal contention has always been disputes between the four main clan-families; the Dir, Darod, Isaaq, and Hawiye clans.(Jennifer De MaioTITLE:Managing Civil Wars: An Evaluation of Conflict-prevention Strategies in Africa ) However at this point in history, the Somali people, longing to break out from imperial rule, unified briefly under the Salihiyah tariqa, an orthodox muslim brotherhood led by Mahammad Abdille Hasan. The so-called, Dervish rebellion targeted the British and Egyptian

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

Then, United Somalia Congress divide into multiple clans which escalate the turmoil through inter-clan warfare. Such warfare destroyed the economy, and left hundreds of thousands of Somalians to perish of starvation.

The deployment of United States Special Forces to Somalia to apprehend General Aidid was in the interest of the United States, if Nuechterlein's outline of national security interest was anything to go by. Somali had gone through difficult times and there was need to restore normalcy in this Horn of Africa's state. Restoring normalcy would have ensured that stability returned. Moreover, this would have ensured that the instability that had been realized here never spilled over into other Eastern Africa states. Had the United States Special Forces succeeded in apprehending General Aidid, a democratically elected government would have been instituted. This government would have prioritized democratic governance principles that conform to United States Army War College's "Favorable World Order category" (Nuechterlein, 1985). Yes, it was difficult to establish Jeffersonian democracy in Somalia bearing in mind that Somalia was a tribal nation; however, it was something worth giving a short. This could only be made possible by chopping off the head of Aidid's organization and ultimately taking Aidid out of the streets. Under the leadership of Aidid, the United Nations lost at least 24 soldiers of Pakistani origin many of whom were skinned (Bowden, 1997).

The TFG to reconsider key groups inside Somalia not previously included in the political process, such as, clan leaders, civil society women groups, business, religious leaders, to include, the Mogadishu by doing so it promotes a more inclusive society. Uganda to deploy 1500 troops to Somalia as well as the African Union Peace and Security Council to deploy stabilization mission is one of the key element to bring the Somali people stability and an assurance of peace. The United States will assist with training and equipping African contingents deploying to Somalia through the African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance program (ACOT A). Also, the U.S. will outreach to Somali Diaspora communities in the United States to urge additional financial and political support for the TFI’s. The State Department Bureau of African Affairs Public Diplomacy office and the U.S. Ambassadors in Kenya and Ethiopia will communicate with domestic and international audience by conducting a variety of press speeches and media interviews, publishing information in newspapers and magazines about the integrated approach on Somalia The Somali people must take responsibility for maintaining a security force at the local level by implementing a civilian police force and a unified military presents of all Somalia’s clan which provides a secure and

Affirmation of Somaliland is crucial because the encouragement of African action should not become the basis for inaction on the part of the United States. Jendayi Frazer, in her report on “Somaliland: Time for African Union Leadership,” states that the United States would recognize Somaliland if the others acted first. But Somaliland deserves recognition from a purely U.S.-centric national security perspective. The United States has always stood to protect the values that it was founded upon. Somaliland, in its entirety fits this impression. The Somaliland government and population embody a moderate voice in the Muslim world that rejects radical interpretations of Islam, including that espoused by the Council of Somali Islamic Courts currently in control. It would serve as a bulwark against the further expansion of radical ideologies in the Horn of Africa by offering a brilliant case of how

With the absence of Mohamed Siad Barre, the country had no proper government to run it. Faction groups started forming in Somalia to take control. In 1992, there was killing and starvation in the south of Somalia (Global Security 1). The U.N. sends peacekeeping operations into Somalia. In addition, the United States started sending troops into Somalia. In 1994, there was too much casualties in Somalia, so the U.S. soldiers withdrew from Somalia with the problems still unsolved (Phil Stewart 1). Fishermen started taking advantage of the bad condition Somalia is in and started raiding different fishing ports. The Somalians started to fight back. The Somalians began to raid and became pirates. Some observers say that the Somalians pirates are usually poor folks trying to get their fortune back (Ishaan Tharoor

Arizona State University (ASU) liberty database holds thousands of different articles, for all your needs. The article State Failure, State-Building, and Prospects for a “Functional Failed State” in Somalia, by Ken Menklaus has been recorded to be cited 5 times in all databases within Social Science, Emerging Sources, and in a book. (all data stated within the ASU’s library database) the credibility of the article is not just proven by being part of ASU’s vast collection of articles but also by the man that wrote the article. Reading the article will take time, it’s an article that without a boundless understanding of the subject would sound senseless to the reader. Author Ken Menklaus is a Professor of Political Science at Davison College,

Somalia has had a long and variegated history, marked by the rise and fall of Empire. Beginning in the late 19th century, the major Western imperial powers began to occupy and divide Somali territory, which is located in the Horn of Africa. The independent Republic of Somalia was formed in 1960 when the British and the Italians withdrew. But though the foreign powers had left, there remained an important reminder of the oppression of imperialism: the state. Beginning in the 7th century, the Somali tribes in the Horn of Africa had developed a complex oral legal system, which operated in a polycentric way: that is, it guaranteed the autonomy of the different Somali clans without any unifying state actor. Yet at the same time, this system, the Xeer, allowed room for conflict resolution and restitution. As a result, the culture of independence among the Somalis meant that one tribe would never be content to be ruled by another—the transitional government created strife as each tribe sought to use it as a means to control the others. In 1991, the Somalis took apart their government and began their modern period of semi-anarchy (with the remnants of the government being propped up by an international coalition desperate to impose their imperialistic mindset on the indigenous culture)—which was also marked with a resurgence of extra-governmental conflict resolution

Somalis use the word burbur (‘catastrophe’) to describe the period from December 1991 to March 1992, when the country was torn apart by clan-based warfare and factions plundered the remnants of the state and fought for control of rural and urban assets. Four months of fighting in Mogadishu alone in 1991 and 1992 killed an estimated 25,000 people, 1.5 million people fled the country, and at least 2 million were internally displaced.

The country of Somalia has undergone massive amounts of armed violence, yet not many people have attempted to stand up for them. The Basic Human Rights, if followed, could turn the downfall of this country overtime into a thriving community repairing itself. The country is so infested with anti-government militias. The country can't help itself but to cower in fear in hope for a

By November of 1992, conditions were getting worse instead of better. Food was still being stolen and sold off to clan leaders while aid workers were threatened and attacked. Americans were stunned at the lawlessness and starvation. Thousands of troops were ordered into Somalia to assist in the aid by President George H. Bush. Now food was getting to the people that it was intended for but distrust for the American soldiers was growing after they often violated Somalis privacy by bursting into their homes and confiscating the weapons that was the Somalis only defense against the opposing clans.6 In March of 1993 the U.S. withdrew most of its troops leaving the security of the people to the UN. By this time anger was growing towards the outsiders and the UN took most of the fallout for that by being attacked regularly. Hostility grew even more when the UN announced that the clan led by Aidid was the one responsible for the lawlessness in Somalia.7 When the UN took sides against the most powerful warlord in Somalia, the attacks against the aid workers was stepped up. 24 Pakistani peace keepers were killed

In August of 1992, President George Bush Sr. sent US soldiers into Somalia to provide humanitarian relief to those Somalis suffering from starvation. The major problems in Somalia started when President Mohammed Siad Barre was overthrown by a coalition of opposing clans. Although there were several opposing groups, the prominent one was led by Mohammed Farah Aidid. Following the overthrow of Barre, a massive power struggle ensued. These small scale civil wars led to the destruction of the agriculture in Somalia, which in turn led to the deprivation of food in large parts of the country. When the international community heard of this, large quantities of food were sent to ease Somali suffering. However, clan leaders like Aidid routinely

By African standards, Somalia is a homogenous state made up of a single ethnicity, religion and culture. This led to a relatively peaceful history until Somalia was colonized by the British, French, and Italians in the 19th century. However, Somalia’s single ethnicity is broken into different clans, and sub-clans and this region’s lack of natural resources led to a fracturing of society, violence, and eventually civil war at the end of the 20th century. Despite the deterioration of society and state throughout the 70s and 80s informal black-markets (referred to as the “shadow economy”) formed to provide goods and services to the masses living under a government incapable of providing

Chapter 1: History of colonialism and the failure of the Somali state: The African Continent has been the place that is known as a mystery for the Europeans. Despite of the fact Europeans knew little about the mainland, its people, traditions, conventions, but a considerable measure of them were profoundly inquisitive about the landmass, and most importantly its natural resources and raw materials. In the 19th century, European kingdoms began to give careful consideration to Africa and a great deal of researchers, explorers and travelers overflowed Africa. The African mainland was brimming with great sights, beautiful creatures, interesting scenes and indigenous individuals with their own way of life and this life, which was totally not the