SOMALIA CRISIS OF 1993.   Term Paper ID:20400 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Background, global forces, politics, economics, military, role of U.N., famine, future. Paper Introduction: At the present time, Somalia is experiencing very serious economic, social, and political problems. It is a wartorn society, divided between the factions of two warlords and many rival clans. Because of the warfare, there is no government and no law and order. The war has destroyed the agricultural economy of the country and has resulted in a famine among the people. Recently, the United Nation sent troops to Somalia in an effort to solve these problems. This paper will discuss the U.N. involvement in Somalia, as well as its impact on economic, social, and political issues. Although the situation in Somalia has deteriorated rapidly in recent years, the roots of Somalia's problems go back to the late 1960's when the dictator Mohamed Siad Barre took control of the country. Before that time, Somalia was a colony under the Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The Christian Science Monitor 85, p. leaders hoped to force the warlords to stopfighting against one another. Many of the U.N.'s aid agencies, as well as those of otherinternational government organizations, made efforts to providehumanitarian assistance to the Somalis. The Ogaden is aregion in which many Somalis live, and therefore Siad Barre felt that itshould rightfully be part of the Republic of Somalia. 19. 11). mission inSomalia is an attempt to restore peace and order and provide humanitarianrelief. The dictator formed apolitical alliance with the Soviet Union which resulted in Somaliareceiving large amounts of military aid and weaponry. commandersshould be instructed "not merely to keep the peace but to impose order asnecessary" (p. At the same time, the firstU.N. However, without large-scaleinternational support, "their effort was bound to have only a minimaleffect" (The Crisis..., 1992, p. to take a more forceful stance than itever has before. Restoring the economy isespecially important, because providing people with jobs and money as wellas food will help to restore the society at the same time. 42). Smock has noted that "the rural sectorsare the most productive portions of the Somali economy and need to receivethe greatest attention" (Smock, 1993, p. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali denounced theSecurity Council's neglect of the Somalia issue. Unfortunately, the actual carrying out of the U.N. In addition, the attack is meantto show Aidid that the United Nations is serious about its efforts tomaintain the peace in Somalia. 112). will play animportant role in terms of improving the political situation of thecountry. The warlords agreedto the cease-fire on 3 March 1992, and on 23 March a team of U.N. plan took a longtime to achieve. 112). intended to secure the nation andprovide humanitarian relief to the famine victims. As a result of the conditions of warfare anddrought, large numbers of Somali people began to experience starvation. The reason for this attack was that Siad Barre wantedto gain the border lands of Ethiopia known as the Ogaden. For example, he made efforts to eliminate thetraditional clan system of the country (Clark, 1993, p. (1992,October). It is a war-torn society, divided betweenthe factions of two warlords and many rival clans. Marines in Operation Restore Hope and use force whenever it isnecessary to stop the violence in Somalia. These weapons wereused in the wars which began tearing the country apart during the 197 's.The constant warfare in Somalia prevented the people from working on theirfarms, and thus destroyed the agricultural base of the nation's economy.Thus, it is clear that Siad Barre did many things "that greatly contributedto undermining the nation's stability" (Clark, 1993, p. 1 9-123. The problems in Somalia began to get worse in1974, when Siad Barre decided to make an attack against the neighboringcountry of Ethiopia. 111). In195 , the United Nations placed Somalia under the trusteeship of Italy.Ten years later, in 196 , the nation attained its independence and wasnamed the Republic of Somalia Shillington, 1989, p. During the war withEthiopia, Siad Barre lost the support of the Soviet Union and thus lost animportant source for economic as well as military aid. (1993, March 23). 11 ). However,restoring the economy in Somalia will not be easy. Therefore, in January of 1992, the Security Councilpassed a resolution for "establishing peace and stability in Somalia,"which called for an international embargo on sales of weapons and militaryequipment to the country (Arms Embargo..., 1992, p. (1993, February 1). 22-23. The war with Ethiopia ended in 1978, but by thenthe economic and social structure of Somalia had already been destroyed.The problems of the economy dramatically increased as a result of a seriesof droughts which occurred during the mid-197 's that made it impossiblefor farmers to grow food. Marines in order torestore order in Somalia. The troops of theUnited Nations targeted only the storage areas in Mogadishu which containedAidid's weapons and military equipment, although some innocent civilianswere accidentally killed or wounded. Maintaining a democracy inSomalia will help to remove corruption from the nation's system ofgovernment. At the present time, Somalia is experiencing very serious economic,social, and political problems. Yet, several definite steps can betaken to help improve Somalia's economic status in the future. Smock, David R. Because of the failure of Siad Barre to run his country properly,many resistance movements arose in Somalia during the 198 's. 116). (1993, May). 42-43. Thus, Smock hasclaimed that "the next stage of the process of economic and socialrehabilitation will be led by the U.N." (p. Bir and the other leaders of the U.N. (1989). 385). (1993, March 8). Thus: "Instead of watchingpassively or issuing hand-wringing reports while Somalia slides back intochaos, U.N. can also help to restore the nation's economy which has beendestroyed by warfare and droughts. When open warfare broke out inSomalia in November 1991, the Security Council of the U.N. Although food supplies had been brought into the country, theywere not being delivered to the starving people. force -not the lightly armed peacekeepers of the past but 'peace-enforcing' troopstoting enough weapons to fight a real battle and authorized to shoot whenneeded" (Church, 1993, p. Shillington, Kevin. peacekeeping troops arrived in Somalia from Pakistan (p. In response to this situation, the United StatesPresident George Bush authorized the use of the U.S. 8A). Thus, according to a recent article in Timemagazine, the U.S. The Christian Science Monitor 85, p. humanitarianefforts in the past were always "handcuffed" by rules which made "U.N.attempts at peacekeeping appear half-hearted and weak-willed" (Crigler,1993, p. delegatesarrived in Mogadishu for the purpose of working out a cease-fire plan.These U.N. must remove all of the weapons which are currently beingused by the warlords for the purpose of fighting against one another. The war has destroyed theagricultural economy of the country and has resulted in a famine among thepeople. Ali MahdiMohammed and his troops seized the capital city of Mogadishu and claimedcontrol over the entire country. Church, George J. Security Council began to developplans to deal with the problems of warfare and famine in Somalia. 18). 1 9-123). forces realized that theywould need to maintain a strong military presence in Somalia, just as theU.S. troops must follow the example ofthe U.S. representatives also hoped to work out a plan to quickly deliverhumanitarian aid to the starving people of Somalia (p. By banning weaponsales to Somalia, the U.N. In addition, U.N. In addition, providing the people of Somalia with the freedomsand human rights of democracy will help to improve the social situation ofthe country as well. It is evident that the United Nations will play a vital rolein the future economic and social development of Somalia. It is apparent that the United Nations will continue to play animportant role in helping Somalia deal with its economic, social, andpolitical problems for many years to come. 18.----------------------- 1 42).Obviously, neither of these goals can be accomplished unless the U.N.troops are capable of making a show of force in Somalia. 11. presence" (Clark, 1993, pp. Smock, a writer for the Christian Science Monitor, agrees withthis point of view and has also pointed out that a democratic style ofgovernment is needed in order to insure the future peace and stability ofSomalia. troops in order to begin airliftoperations to bring food into the country. Thus, it is apparentthat the crisis in Somalia is an important situation in the development ofthe United Nation's strength and credibility. 23). Marines "blazed the way for a new kind of U.N. peacekeepers from Pakistan were killed in asurprise attack. troops also had to be able touse force when necessary. Although the situation in Somalia has deteriorated rapidly in recentyears, the roots of Somalia's problems go back to the late 196 's when thedictator Mohamed Siad Barre took control of the country. 11 ). Peacekeeping task demands stronghand. However, these effortswere still not enough to bring about a resolution to Somalia's manyproblems. TheSoviet Union decided to support Ethiopia instead of Somalia in the war,because Ethiopia's size and location made it more strategically importantat the time (Crozier, 1993, p. 119). 22). 42). forces increased power isimportant because they are "charged with broad responsibility for nationalrepair and reconciliation" (Church, 1993, p. 51). forces begana series of bombing raids against Mohammed Farah Aidid. At that time, the United Somali Congressbecame split between the leadership of the two warlords. Thus, Boutros-Ghali has claimed publicly that U.N. 8A). According to thepolitical analyst Jeffrey Clark, "there has been no functioning governmentin Somalia since" (p. UN Chronicle 29: pp. In order to accomplish their goals of stopping warfareand providing humanitarian relief, the U.N. Although this situation reduced the amount of economic aid toSomalia, it unfortunately did not stop the flow of dangerous weapons intothe country. Furthermore, through negotiations andmeetings, the U.N. peacekeeping troops imposingorder with a "strong hand." According to Crigler, U.N. forces would be expected to confiscate weapons, patrol thecountryside, and organize civilian police forces to keep order" (p. In thistraditional clan system, local elders made all of the important decisionsfor the people. Theeconomic and social factors are important because failure to deal with themcould result in the nation slipping back into warfare and famine again inthe future. The United States beganproviding military aid to Siad Barre's government because it wanted to helpthe small nation in its defense against the Soviet-backed Ethiopians(Clark, 1993, p. By working against this system, Siad Barre destroyed thetraditional organization of the Somali society. Debacle in Somalia. Crozier, Brian. In May of 1993, the United States turned the leadership of theoperation over to the United Nations. This incident came aboutafter twenty-three U.N. Because of the fall of the Soviet Union, the SecurityCouncil of the United Nations was "distracted" by important crises inlocations such as the Balkans and the former state of Yugoslavia (Clark,1993, p. The crisis that the world ignored: The U.N. agencies can work to help encourage investment in privatebusinesses in the country. can help bring together the divided people of thecurrent Somali society. (1993). Once law and order is restored, the U.N. 18). However, Mohammed Farah Aidid challengedthis claim and began fighting to take the country over for himself. The role of the United Nations is to promote peace and security inthe world and to try to resolve conflicts wherever possible. NationalReview 45, pp. Siad Barredid many things which had a negative effect on the society, politics, andeconomics of Somalia. accomplishes the completedisarmament of the country (Smock, 1993, p. 51). 19). In June 1993, the troops of the United Nations indeed began usingstronger tactics against the Somali warlords. In the words of MiltonAllimadi, the United Nations must not "coddle" the warlords; rather, "itshould seize the opportunity to restore both Somalia's independence and itsown position as world leader and peacekeeper" (Allimadi, 1992, p. Forexample, U.N. 18). Infact, Brian Crozier, a writer for the National Review, has claimed thatalmost all of the nations that received aid from the Soviet Union duringthe Cold War have turned out badly. Clark, Jeffrey. This is because the United States replaced the Soviet Unionas a source for weapons supplies in Somalia. Crigler argues that U.N. soon realizedthat an international effort would be needed in order to resolve thecountry's problems. In addition, "the mission is to bring back a legitimate governmentand restore order to the east African nation" (Allimadi, 1992, p. The Somali warlords have shown that there are some casesin which military force simply must be used in order to provide reliefefforts to starving victims. In response to theSecretary-General's statement, the U.N. This warfare had a terrible impact on thealready unstable politics and society of the country. For a while, itseemed that Somalia would make progress toward becoming a free anddemocratic nation. This changeoccurred in 1974, when the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrownand replaced with a Communist dictator named Mengistu Haile-Mariam. In July of1992, the U.N. In other words, thetroops of the U.N. However, that situation changed in the year 1969, whenthe military leader Mohamed Siad Barre took over the country. 18). Regarding the future development of Somalia, the U.N. Bringing Somalia back tolife. History of Africa. relief efforts can bepartially directed toward restoring the nation's traditional agriculturaleconomy. It was reportedthat over 3 , Somalis had already died as a result of the famine, andthat starvation had "ravaged 75 percent of children under five years of agein the country's most afflicted regions" (Clark, 1993, p. This group included twopowerful military leaders who would later become rival warlords against oneanother: Mohammed Farah Aidid and Ali Mahdi Mohammed. humanitarian operations hadbeen carried out in the past. A large group of U.N. 11 ). By making these attacks, the UnitedNations is hoping to drive the warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid from power andthus restore peace and order to the area. Thepeople were no longer able to grow their own food, which resulted in awidespread famine throughout the nation. In retaliation against this attack, the U.N. If the U.N.succeeds in establishing a democratic government in Somalia, it will helpprevent human rights abuses from occurring in that nation in the future.The U.N. forces need tohave a stronger military stance in order for them to restore the peace inSomalia. Foreign Affairs 72:pp. Crigler, Frank. World Press Review 39: p. One of themost important of the rebel organizations was the United Somali Congress,which formed in 1989 (Clark, 1993, p. In January of 1991,the fighters of the United Somali Congress finally succeeded in drivingSiad Barre out of the country. Smock makes this point when he says:"International assistance is required to facilitate the rebuilding of therest of Somalia's social and economic life" (Smock, 1993, p. In Smock's words, "grass-roots, participatory democracy isessential, and democratic elections must be the basis of the establishmentof a new political order" (Smock, 1993, p. Likewise, FrankCrigler has written in the Christian Science Monitor that the success ofthe Somalia operation depends upon the U.N. (1992, December 2). 8A. 8A).David R. Time141, pp. Many experts believe that the current problems in Somalia are theresult of the influence of the Soviet Union during the early 197 's. Journal of Commerce and Commercial 394, p. In addition to restoring order to the Somali government, the UnitedNations will need to pay attention to fixing the problems of the economicand social sectors as well. The first U.N. InAugust 1992, the United Nations used U.S. New York: St.Martin's Press. 19).Secretary General Boutros-Ghali has also claimed that U.N. Because of the warfare,there is no government and no law and order. In addition, the fighting of the two warlordshad a negative impact on the economic conditions of the Somali people. At the present time inthe nation, "economic activity has ceased; income is virtually non-existent" (Allimadi, 1992, p. According to Crozier: "WhereverSoviet-style Communism has reigned, the legacy has been economic collapse,civil war or ethnic strife, and a collective allergy to democratic reform"(Crozier, 1993, p. must seek to establish astable government as well as to provide humanitarian relief to the people.According to the correspondent Milton Allimadi, the task of bringingSomalia "back to life" requires more than simply getting food to thehungry. The forlorn cause. In March of 1992, the United Nations tooktheir efforts to the next step by holding negotiations between Mahdi andAidid. References Allimadi, Milton. forces had. In addition,the United Nations is concerned with providing humanitarian relief to thevictims of starvation throughout the world. This paper will discuss the U.N. This was because thesoldiers under the leadership of the warlords were seizing the supplies touse for themselves. The purpose of these negotiations was to try to arrive at anagreement for a cease-fire between the two factions. 19). With these two actions, the U.N. Boutros-Ghali claimedthat a "double standard" was being applied because the Council was ignoringthe weak nation of Somalia and was focusing instead on "the rich man's war"in locations such as Iraq and Yugoslavia (p. Somalia's next step: Restoringeconomy. Mission half accomplished. soldiers fromvarious nations were placed under the command of Cevik Bir, a TurkishGeneral. In this way, the international organization mighthelp to heal some of the old wounds which continue to tear the countryapart at the present time. For example, Jeffrey Clark has written in thejournal Foreign Affairs that Somalia is providing a test for the UnitedNations, to see whether it can "seize new opportunities both to structurenational reconciliation in Somalia and to forge a more coherent andforceful U.N. InNovember of 1991, the soldiers of these two warlords began to engage inopen warfare with one another. Recently, the United Nation sent troops to Somalia in an effort tosolve these problems. As noted in the Christian Science Monitor, orderwill be restored in Somalia only when the U.N. 111). During the early months of the cease-fire, thousands of Somalis continued to die of starvation. Regarding this, David R. Also, because of the warfare,international humanitarian organizations were unable to bring reliefefforts to the starving Somalis. In December of 1992, the first Marine troopsarrived in Somalia for the purpose of carrying out Operation Restore Hope.With this operation, the United States showed that military force issometimes necessary in order to carry out a humanitarian mission. 18). Giving the U.N. Arms embargo for Somalia imposed, UN team tries for cease-fire.(1992, June). Ithas also been claimed that order will not be restored to the country untilan effective police force is created and maintained (Church, 1993, p. Many experts have written on the necessity of the United Nationstaking a strong and forceful role in situations such as that which is nowtaking place in Somalia. As this paper has shown, dealing with suchproblems today requires the U.N. can help prevent future crises in the countryby helping it to develop a stronger system of government. After that, the U.N. Before that time,Somalia was a colony under the jurisdiction of Great Britain and Italy. and Somalia. Siad Barre also had anegative influence on the politics and economics of Somalia because of hisefforts to introduce Communism into the nation. 5 -51+. Thisidea was in contrast to the way in which U.N. involvement inSomalia, as well as its impact on economic, social, and political issues. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.