A Failed State that Threatens the Region

Remnants of European World Dominance

Today Somalia is one of the most troubled nations in the world. It has often been referred to as a “stateless state.” This is because the nation has been in continuous violent civil conflict, where recently 47,000 people have left their homes in the capital of Mogadishu in fear of their lives. Just last week the Islamist insurgents and government troops, in association with Ethiopia troops, battled in the streets killing over 400 civilians.
Somalia is a country whose borders were drawn during the 1884 Berlin Conference where European nations embarked on the Partition of Africa. They drew the borders with no respect to ethnic, religions, or cultural relations of the indigenous populations. As in many countries throughout Africa, this is still a major factor of internal conflict. In Somalia this conflict is boiling over and massive numbers of innocent civilians are being killed and forced from there homes. The AU pledges to aid the government with troops to quell the insurgency but this seems futile as the current government holds little internal sway, as the local warlords battle for control of territory. The current Somalia government seems to care little about the welfare of its citizens and seems to be intent on continuing their war. I believe that this conflict has a direct correlation between the European domination of Africa in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. This sentiment also holds strong for me in many other nations in Africa such as Nigeria, Sudan, and the Congo.