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Topic:

Somalia History

Essay Instructions:

War, Famine and instability has haunted the Federal Republic of Somalia for many decades. The small country has faced unbelievable trials and tribulation, but has always remain resilient throughout their entire uphill battle for freedom and basic survival. Our future of tomorrow has been trained to handle high level machine guns, and education being on the back burner. Due to the high level of corrupt and non-guidance, Somali continues to only take baby steps towards stabilization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Background:

 

Somalia has been frowned upon as one of the most dangerous place to live in the world due to all the turmoil through war and inhumane behavior that has haunt the country. Somalia is haunted by corrupt leaders and clans of terrorist that impose harsh reality for the native people. Many other countries around the world has tried their best to support the Somali community, but due to the fear of retaliation it’s extremely hard to follow through on assisting the people properly.  Over the past twenty one years from 1969 to 1990, Somali was under the ruling of president and military dictator Siad Barre. During the 1980s, the Somali armed forces targeted innocent civilians in the northwest which claimed over five thousand innocent lives. Barre regime developed a calculated policy using clan sentiment to exacerbate competition, conflict, and grudges among Somalis. Brutal punishments was imposed on civilians suspected of harboring sympathies for one or the other armed opposition fronts.  Political violence targeted civilians on the basis of their clan background, which is a common practice in Somalia during the military regime of Barre. The year of 1991 when Siad Barre power started to dwindle Somalia was plunged into a chaotic internal conflict from which it has never recovered. Today, Somalia is universally cited as a 'failed state.' According to many reports by magazines and the media, Somalia key issues can be linked to three reasons why Somali continues to be in an uproar with no positive ending in sight. Colonialism, Cold War international relations, and the Siad Barre dictatorship has left Somalia in a tailspin. Laitin, D. & Samatar, S.S. (1987).

In 1960 the North and the South merged to form the independent United Republic of Somalia, which was a huge step from being divided by the ruling of the British and the Italians. The attack on Ethiopia marked a major turnaround for Somalia civilians. Italy’s attack on Ethiopia forced the nation to unite and for the first time in forty years all the Somali clans that had been arbitrarily separated by the Anglo-Italo-Ethiopian boundaries was illuminated.

History:

Somali is located on the “Horn of Africa” which started a completion between the British, French and Italians. The three European nations were competing to control various territories in Somalia for their personal gain. European interest in Somalia develops after 1839, when the British begin to use Aden, on the south coast of Arabia, as a coaling station for ships on the route to India. In 1939, the British took control of Aden, which they renamed Somaliland. Italy followed Britain’s lead in 1889 and took control of two protectorates in northern Somalia and along the southern coast, which the renamed Italian Somaliland. The fight against British rule was led by Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan in the early 1900’s, but to no avail the Somalia’s were defeated. The Somali’s community continues to fight for their independence from the British because they wanted to govern themselves (Britton, 2013). Somalia population is estimated to be around 9.3 million civilians in 2012.

Clan Cleansing Period:

During the “Clan Cleansing Period” the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu was dismantled. As the violence continued across the south, south central and central Somalia, productive activities was impossible and conflict arose over the control of food, causing famine in 1992. International heavy weights the united States and United Nation intervened in order to assist Somalia with hope. Somalia politicians is putting their best foot forward to rebuild a central government and political entrepreneurs, warlords continue to create problems over whom is the rightful owner of certain resources. Many believe that violence. Greed, and other forms of unethical, unjust, irreligious and “un-Somali” behavior have gone unchecked and that’s why these behaviors continue to resurface (Cilmi, 1990).

Geography:

During late 1800’s to 1960 conflict arose between Somalia and Kenya regarding who control which portion of the border, which led to even more border discussion among Kenya – Ethiopia, Kenya- Sudan and Kenya- Uganda as well (Thompson, 2015). The north-eastern horn in Africa is considered to be the most dangerous corner, where terrorism thrives. Somalia is overlooking the passageway between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The peninsula between Somalia and Yemen, is one of the most important trade routes in the world. Somalia is the gateway to the Suez Canal, which connects Europe and North America with Asia and East Africa. Somalia is a unique location that accounts for approximately four percent of the world’s daily crude oil supply. 

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Somalia
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Background
For a while now, Somalia has been referred to as ‘the failed state’. This is quite a disappointing description for a country that has one of the best geographically located harbours in the world. Civil war, terrorism and corrupt leaders are the reason why Somalia is as desolate as it is today. The United Republic of Somalia was formed as a result of merging between the North and the South upon the attainment of independence from the Italians and the British. The country’s troubles began in the late sixties during the reign of military dictator, Siad Barre. The Somali civil society was destroyed by this dictator’s twenty one year rule. Barre oversaw one of the longest periods of atrocities in history (Clarke, 1997). Working under the leadership of Barre, Somali Armed Forces were responsible for the death of five thousand civilians in the bloody 1988 siege of Hargeisa. Former Minister of Defence Mohammed Ali Samantar, Colonel Yusuf Abdi also known as Tukeh and the former Chief of the National Security Service Abdi Aden worked with Siad Barre, bringing the country to its knees. The US Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance described Somalia as the worst humanitarian disaster on the planet. The origin of the unrest and chaos in Somalia is usually traced back to clan-based movements that rose during the reign of Barre. In the northeast, there was the Somali Salvation Democratic Front. In the northwest, there was the Somali National Movement and the United Somali Congress in the south. After the successful overthrowing of the government in 1991, Barre’s tyrannical period of power was over. What happened next is a total opposite of what the world expected to happen. Instead of armed factions coming together to fill the vacuum left by Siad Barre, a competition for power between these factions escalated. Between 1990 and 1992, the country was deep in the jaws of civil war (Mubarak, 1997). Fighting during this period led to the intervention of the United Task Force and the UNOSOM (United Nations Operation in Somalia) peacekeeping forces after the collapse of customary law. In 1995, peacekeeping forces having suffered quite a number of casualties due to strong resistance from Somali rebels, withdrew from Somalia. The introduction of governments in the late nineties restored a certain level of tranquillity in the country. After 2000, violence in Somalia was of a lower scale. After the Islamic Courts Union lost control of the south, in 2006, they splintered into radical groups like Al-Shabaab. These radical groups have turned Somalia into a zone of constant turmoil leading the entrance of Kenyan troops in Somalia.
History
During the colonisation period, Somalia was targeted by three countries; France, Britain and Italy. Political borders were imposed in Somalia by these European colonial powers. The British administered parts of the north while the Italians took the South. The territories were known as British Somaliland and Italian Somalia. Most of the land in this region was arid and inhospitable. The interest in Somalia by the Europeans was as a result of the use of Aden as a coaling station for vessels en-route to India (Lewis, 2008). The British targeted Somalia as a source of food for their garrisons, while France and Italy needed coaling facilities for their ships. The scramble for Somalia started in the late nineteenth century. Ethiopia, under the leadership of Menelik II, also joined in the scramble. To avoid armed confrontation, France and Britain agreed to place a demarcation line between their shares of the coast in 1888. Djibouti was a part of French Somaliland until it became independent as the republic of Djibouti in 1977. Britain promised protection to various Somali chieftains in the coastal area of Berbera and Zeila, giving birth to a protectorate known as British Somaliland (Miyandazi, 2012).
Italy and Ethiopia took control of the largest part of Somalia. In 1884 Italy and Britain agreed to a border between their territories. Italy and Ethiopia disagreed over Eritrea in the late 1800’s leading to the battle of Aduwa which the Ethiopians won. After World War II, Italia took the bigger share of territory and named it Italian East Africa. The period between 1940 and 1950 was filled with tussles over the control of Somalia. In order to stop this tussle, the colonial boundaries were reverted to what was agreed in 1897. In 1950, Italians return to Somalia with a commitment to bring the colony to independence within ten years.
Geography
Somalia overlooks the passageway between the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Being the gateway to the Suez Canal, Somalia is uniquely placed as a hub of maritime trade in Africa. The fact that it is in the horn of Africa makes it miss out on all the trade opportunities in this area. The Horn of Africa is viewed as a hotbed of terrorism. Somalia’s war torn state makes it miss out on the trade advantages of its geographical location. Somalia is bordered by the Gulf of Aden to the north, Kenya to the southwest, Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest and the Indian Ocean to the east. Somalia has the longest coastline in Mainland Africa and the Middle East. Somalia is arid and rugged due to irregular rainfall. Geological research suggests that Somalia is rich with valuable mineral deposits (Miyandazi, 2012). Somalia’s highest point, Shimber Berris is 2,407 metres above sea level and is located near Erigavo. The north part of Somalia is a semi desert plain. This area has shallow waterbeds, sandy soil and scrub land known as the Guban. 
"Somalia Topography en" by Sadalmelik - Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons -  HYPERLINK "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Somalia_Topography_en.png#/media/File:Somalia_Topography_en.png" https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Somalia_Topography_en.png#/media/File:Somalia_Topography_en.png
Government
Somalia’s government state has been full of problems since it attained independence. Somalia’s structure of government comprises an executive and a legislative branch. The parliament serves as the legislative branch and is headed by the President of Somalia. The Cabinet reports to the President through the Prime Minister. The Council of Ministers is appointed by the Prime Minister, while the Federal Parliament of Somalia elects the President and Prime Minister. The Federal Parliament has the authority to pass and veto laws. The parliament is divided into two separate assemblies; a lower house of 275 seats and an upper house consisting of 54 representatives. The law states that at least 30% of all MPs must be women. The court structure comprises of the Constitutional Court, Federal Government level courts, and Federal Member State level courts (Menkhaus, 2007).
Law and Politics
In Somalia, law and regulations pertaining to law do not exist. Currently the country is under control of Kenyan troops and Somali troops in a bid to curb the Al-Shabaab threat. Continued attacks in Kenya and Somalia by extremist and terrorist groups pose a problem to the structure of law in Somalia. Lack of effective leadership and a working government make the passing and implementation of law in this country almost impossible. Illegal immigrants in Somalia from neighbouring countries continue to join militant groups for money while neighbouring countries strive to protect their borders from potential terrori...
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