By Hunde D. Gabissa
It is almost two decades since Somalia started the unpleasant journey to nowhere. The conflict which started either as political, tribal or/and ideological differences overthrown the Mohamed Siad Barre national government and opened a way for a protracted anarchy. Few or none have forecasted the danger of that relatively minor violence until it forced couple of UN missions to quit after heavy loss, changed its face from time to time and reached the today’s multimillion dollar ‘business’ or ‘crime’ of piracy.
Today the world knows Somalia due to the reality of migration and decades of conflict. It is also possible to say Somalia is the security risk, from different perspective; to the Africans, to the western superpowers and the international community.
The case of Somalia is a serious loss and mess to a lot of groups. The USA has suffered its military reputation when it intervened to withdraw shortly with big resistance and shock. The UN, AU and other international organizations have played their part to reinstate Somalia but the real Somalia is still a dream and violence is escalating. Moreover, the intervention of Ethiopia complicated the case and energized the extremist.
But what is the real problem of Somalia? Can a country roughly speaking one language and adheres to the same Muslim religion be branded as a failed state due to clan? What was the UN response to that crisis and what was the effect of countless effort to restore peace and stability in Somalia? What is the role of Ethiopia in the history of Somalia and the legality of its military intervention in 2006? How can a trouble in one country be a concern to the international community? What will be the share of Somalia’s and the International Community to restore Somalia? This and other related issues will be discussed briefly in this paper entitled “Internal Conflict with International dimensions: The case of Somalia.”
The aim of this paper is to show how internal conflict will have an international dimension. I used descriptive method of writing to bring these points to your attention… [continue reading]