THE PITFALLS OF THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS IN THE CONTEXT OF U.S. FOREIGN POLICY

Image via Wikipedia

Introduction

Since the beginning of the 19th century, the United States has been the undisputed dominant power in terms of science and technology, military, politics, and economy with the exception of a time in history known as “the Cuban Missile Crisis” when John F. Kennedy’s faulty and hesitant foreign policy promoted and irritated Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to grasp his surreptitious intention in America’s backyard. Since that fateful day of October 14, 1962 when an American U-2 photoreconnaissance plane captured photographic proof of Soviet missile bases under construction in Cuba, differing views and ideas have been deciphered and written by historians, political scientists, and students of international relations as to what went wrong and why secretive Nikita Khrushchev’s ill-fated operation happened in the first place in America’s backyard without prior knowledge of the U.S. president, the U.S. intelligence services, and American public.

From its inception in 1776 when courageous and heroic American men and women proclaimed their inalienable rights to self determination from the forces of colonial England, the government and people of the United States never imagined Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) would be hauled 7,000 miles all the way from the shores of communist adversary U.S.S.R and assembled a distance spanning ninety nautical miles from Florida on the shores of modern-day Cuba. Just as early seventh century C.E. Chinese rulers of the postclassical era thought the expansive Taklimakan Desert to be a natural barrier against foreign infiltrations and that also the pharaohs of Egypt saw the Sahara Desert as an obstacle for alien invaders, likewise, there was a perception in the United States that the massive Pacific and Atlantic Oceans would safeguard America from foreign aggression. The objective of this research is to uncover the pitfalls of the Kennedy administration for failing to uncover Soviet military build up in Cuba, nondescript Nikita Khrushchev’s fantasy of ensuring Soviet longevity through justification and emulation, and Moscow’s morbid suspicion of foreigners-especially America and Americans.

Soviet Belligerence in Words and in Deeds

Right after the end of the Second World War, in words and deeds, Soviet leaders and Soviet intelligence worked exhaustively without stop ultimately aiming at inflicting significant harm to the United States, to her allies, and to her democratic values. When McCone, in his capacity as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, presented a memorandum on the Donovan Project regarding the Soviet Cuban-Missiles to JFK on October 11, 1962, “The President requested that such information be withheld at least until after elections as if the information got into the press, a new and more violent Cuban issue would be injected into the campaign and this would seriously affect his independence of action.” In his memoir, Robert F. Kennedy indicated that the president knew nothing about the Soviet missiles in Cuba, “yet several times before the missile crisis erupted, Kenneth B. Keating, a White-manned Republican senator from Rochester, New York, charged that the Soviets were putting missiles on Cuba.”[1] For example, U.S. intelligence experts failed to analyze and preempt the strongly-worded message from the Soviet government carried by the daily Pravda on the morning of February 19, 1962, that read in part:

“Does the U.S. government organize and direct aggression against another country accusing it of having established a social system and a state different from what the United States wanted? If the U.S. government arrogates this right to itself, it is standing on very shaky ground, because it does not…possess the military might that would permit it to dictate conditions to other countries. The U.S. political leaders should take into account that there are other countries possessing no less terrible weapons, standing guard over peace, and prepared to prevent the unloosing of a new war.”

[2] The phrase “direct aggression against another country” is in reference to the United States’ policies toward Cuba while “social system” denotes the communist system established by Fidel Castro in Cuba with help from the Soviet politburo. Khrushchev issued this echoing message as a stern warning to the United States while the administration in Washington remained oblivious and unperturbed.

Soviet Missile Assembly in Cuba

According to U.S. intelligence information gathered on the Soviet build-up in Cuba, there were two types of missiles of distinct deterrence: medium-range and intermediate range. Designed to carry nuclear warheads and capable of travelling 1,100 miles; the medium-range missiles were capable of striking Washington, DC, Mexico City and other cities in the southeastern parts of the United States, Central America and the Caribbean area. The intermediate-range missiles had the capability to strike major cities in the western hemisphere from Hudson Bay in Canada to Lima in Peru. On the other hand, President Kennedy noted that Soviet bombers capable of carrying nuclear warheads were being “uncrated” and assembled in Cuba while Cuban air bases capable of accommodating the bombers remained under construction. [3]

Soviet Global political Irredentism

The Soviet’s undaunted political irredentism and ideological obscurantism predate the Cuban missile crisis. During Josef Stalin’s reign, the Soviet Union embarked on forceful territorial expansion by craftily moving southwards towards Iran and Turkey and by stealthily injecting communist thought into Greek political arena. After World War II the Soviet leaders embarked on a precarious mission of occupying the northern regions of Iran until the prime minister of Iran conceded defeat by promising the Soviets offer of oil to which the Soviets categorically rejected until the United States and Britain got involved with a view to controlling Soviet irredentist tendencies. As for Turkey, Stalin made various demands that included giving up of Turkish regions straddling Soviet borders, joint Soviet-Turkish administration of the Dardanelles Strait, Turkey sever relations with Britain, and lastly but not least, Soviet demand that Turkey lease bases in the Dardanelles Strait exclusively for use by Soviet naval and land forces. In Greece, communism spread like wildfire leading to the formation of a right-wing government. [4]

American Demilitarization and Soviet Expansionism

The expansion of Soviet influence in Eastern Europe coupled with the spread of communism in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America created prolonged competition between the forces of capitalism and communism. Nonetheless, according to President Harry Truman, the United States was devising an absolute foreign policy of “detachment from foreign concerns”. [5] It was this detachment in the form of demilitarization that in the long run led to “the most rapid demobilization in the history of the world.” Despite the United States’ active-duty personnel drastically dropping from 12 million in 1945 to a mere 1.5 million in 1948, on the other hand, weighted against the dilapidated, disenfranchised, and demoralized Soviet military power, the United States, assisted by the largest and the deadliest nuclear arsenals, enjoyed leverage over the seas. [6]

This unprecedented sweeping reduction of active-duty personnel by the U.S. sent commotion across continental Europe especially among nations that relied on American defense against anticipated Soviet aggravations. Ironically, “the United States lacked the ground forces required to intervene in anything greater than a minor conflict”.[7] American global political estrangement boosted Soviet leaders’ ill-conceived and detrimental willpower which consequently tremendously accelerated their convoluted ideological foundations across the globe undeterred. In addition, America’s sublime alienation sped up the evolvement of unparalleled despotic and authoritarian leaders in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa in the runner-up to the Cold War. Compared to the enormous Soviet global sphere of control at the height of communism, apart from providing unreserved protection to its compacted NATO allies in the European continent and the cluster of territories under its trusteeship, the United States enjoyed little global dominance while the Soviet Union’s malevolent communist ideology blanketed continental Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin and South America, and the Caribbean.

The Rise of John Fitzgerald Kennedy

The Cuban missile crisis happened at a time when the president of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, kept his brother Robert F. Kennedy who at that time was the United States Attorney General-as his closest confidant and advisor. [8] This task would have been left to someone with profound knowledge of national security issues-issues related to the containment of the Soviet Union’s unabashed spherical predation and growing global communist antagonism. Perhaps the youthful forty-three old John Fitzgerald Kennedy-the youngest president by then-did not seriously heed the advice of the aging Eisenhower-an advice in the form of a warning that pinpointed the growing global communist offensive and the threat posed by Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev-leader of the egregious Soviet Union (Aleksandr and Naftali, p.79). [9] At that time Soviet leader Khrushchev and his foreign minister Andrei Gromyko and others considered the new president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, “a typical pragmatist” while Soviet Americanists saw Kennedy’s position on USA-Soviet relations as being quite contradictory. [10] Under Khrushchev, Russian people always saw America as inferior technologically and militarily. After the first “beep beeps” of Soviet Sputnik 1 in space, NASA also blasted Explorer 1 into space as a countermeasure to Russian space race at which Khrushchev remarked: “but it is no larger than an apelsinchik” (tiny orange). [10] Paradoxically, the strongest man in the western hemisphere during the Cuban Missile Crisis, John F. Kennedy, was unwilling and unprepared to invade Cuba despite being pushed by Foster Dulles-the man who in the waning years of his life “maintained that the Democratic Party’s policy of "containment" must be replaced by a policy of "liberation." What United States foreign policy needed, he said, was more "heart." [11]

Fidel Castro: Dedicated Communist

Fidel Castro climbed the ladder of success with the promise of transforming the Caribbean island into a conspicuous Shangri-La. In contrast, Cuba under Castro transformed into a dragon’s lair. Despite preferring “godless communism” to the virtues of peace, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness enjoyed by his neighbor, America, Fidel Castro-the revolutionary zealot and doyen of socialism, hung crucifixes and pictures of Virgin Mary on the walls of his office. He reportedly admonished envoys and diplomats with the parting words: “all that needs to be done will be done, [for] it is the Madonna who is sending you.” [12] Fidel Castro’s meteoric rise to power culminated in his resentment of the U.S. such that his coining of the pejorative phrase “yanqui imperialism” resonated across central and south America where Spanish remained the established lingua franca.

For several decades, there have been conflicting political, social, and economic rifts between the leaders of the United States on one side and those of Cuba and the U.S.S.R on the other. To ensure enhanced national security measures, hawkish U.S. civilian and military leaders preferred the use of force against Cuban leadership before, during, and after the infamous Cuban missile crisis. Consequently, the defeat of the communist regime in Havana would have ushered in the overall annexation of the island after the dust settles. The thought by some American leaders that the imposition of tough economic sanctions would cause unprecedented economic strangulation and in the end herald abrupt change in the Cuban political hierarchy preposterously failed to materialize. For dovish JFK and his ardent supporters in government, dismantling Soviet-Cuban hostility toward the U.S. and her allies entailed the use of strategies that reconciled with democratic expectations and norms. Such constraints and others of like measure placed on presidential powers unquestionably created intrinsic predicament in JFK’s pursuit of legitimate national security prerogatives.

Constrained U.S. Foreign Policy

For many decades American foreign policy remained a victim of tumult and political confusion. An aura of political malevolence and penumbra of mistrust ludicrously contaminated America’s congressional, senatorial, and presidential operations. The placing of precipitous limitations on presidential powers and erosion of confidence intensified the defeat of raison d'être among members of the legislature. Since the formation of pluralism, political parties in the American landscape-Democratic, Republican, and moderates alike-have been at loggerheads regarding the direction the nation ought to be steered. Besides, JFK was surrounded by a staff that had conflicting ideas and mixed reactions about how to handle the Cuban missile crisis. Some called for the elimination of the Soviet missiles positioned against the U.S.; others like General Maxwell Taylor-the fine-looking Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) who got in to trouble during the Eisenhower era for advocating a “flexible response” for the military in place of the then-prevailing doctrine of “massive retaliation”-expressed that “the balance of terror might well tilt in favor of Russia.”[13] Even some senior echelons of the U.S. government begrudged JFK most notably high-profile Dean Acheson who perceived young JFK as “…little more than a spoiled brat for whom the father had purchased a seat in Congress.”[14] JFK had little trust even for John McCone-the man who succeeded John Dulles as the highest-ranking CIA operative. In early August 1962, McCone assigned Philippe L. Thiraud de Vosjoli who was Washington chief for French intelligence to go to Cuba and have a glimpse of the island. Upon returning to Washington, DC de Vosjoli presented compelling evidence regarding Soviet missiles directed at the U.S. An agitated McCone asked JFK to take action about the Cuban threats. Because McCone was a Republican, the Kennedy’s gave little attention to his information. However, McCone’s reports were leaked to the GOP who accused the president of appeasing Castro. [15] When General Lansdale included in his memo the expression “including the liquidation of leaders”, he was persuaded by his immediate assistant William K. Harvey-“to delete those four words” [16]

“That Infernal Little Cuban Republic”

The United States’ abhorrence of Cuba stretches back to the days of Theodore Roosevelt who is reported to have told a friend in 1906: “I am so angry with that infernal little Cuban republic that I would like to wipe its people off the face of the earth. All we have wanted from them was that they would behave themselves and be prosperous and happy so that we would not have to interfere. And now, lo and behold, they have started an utterly unjustifiable and pointless revolution.”[17] Cuba under Castro had always been a no-win situation for every sitting U.S. president because the administration in Havana remained hard to pin down even in places as far as Africa where Cuba remained an adversary to U.S. political commitments in the underdeveloped continent crippled by mismanagement and pathetic corruption such that a Washington Post headline decried: “U.S. powerless to contain Cuba in Africa” while Zbigniew Brzezinski who was making a report to his immediate boss, the president, exclaimed: “we are stuck on Africa.” [18] Even after Eisenhower and Kennedy had departed the world for the afterlife, Fidel Castro, continued to blow his own horn by bragging: “we will still be here in another 20 years.” [19] Decades later, during the 1980 campaign, flamboyant Ronald Reagan proposed a blockade of Cuba while his new secretary of State, Alexander M. Haig jr., had a more stringent measure: invasion. Almost all U.S. presidents shared similar mental images in their concerted attempts to restrain the tiny Cuban republic. Speaking to an audience of supporters at a campaign in 2004 at a time when ailing Ronald Reagan was battling Alzheimer and while Alexander Haig remained semiretired in Northern Virginia, George W. Bush, echoed the riveting point: “I’ve got a plan to spread freedom, not only in the greater Middle East but also in our own hemisphere, in places like Cuba.” Regardless of undertaking wide-ranging and profound foreign policy measures during his tenure of office, George W. Bush did little to effect change in Cuba consequently embarrassing wealthy Cuban-American campaign contributors and regular voters who populate the crucial state of Florida. In his final years of office, while responding to a question from the audience-a question in relation to U.S. foreign policy commitment in Cuba-George W. Bush had no other explanation other than stating: “One day the good Lord will take Fidel Castro away.” [20]

Soviet Dissemination of Propaganda

The Russians were adept at deceiving foreign leaders who felt inspired by communist principles with medallions of prestige and honor at grandiose ceremonies attended by a retinue of public figures with twenty-one gun salute, cocktail parties, and theatrical performances at the famous Bolshoi theatre in Moscow. From Latin America to Asia to Africa the number of foreign dignitaries lining up at the Kremlin to be showered on with praise must have been vast and boundless. “The payment of an honorarium was one of the traditional tools the Kremlin used to stroke foreign communists, leaders of national-liberation movements or “progressive cultural elites.” [21] While the Russians were deficient in military intelligence inside the U.S. at the time of the missile crisis, one thing is certain: U.S. national security services enjoyed superior and rigorous infiltration and information gathering structures inside the Soviet Union. On the contrary, the Soviets enjoyed superfluous and extraordinary array of intelligentsia where communism thrived such that Soviet military advisors and multifarious intelligence networks-despite espousing inferior intellectual paraphernalia in context and arrangement-flourished in Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America, South America, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. Working in concert with host nations besieged by European domination, colonialism, and imperialism-nations whose inexperienced lackadaisical leaders attached great value to Leninist-Marxist ideology- the Soviets, through reckless dissemination of propaganda and rigorous deception, conscientiously exploited every conceivable economic fiber of these retarded nations. Seeing that the United States was turning a blind eye to the rest of the world with the exception of Western Europe where the U.S. had vested interests, the Soviet Union promptly expanded its sphere of influence clandestinely through antiquated blueprints such that it did not even shy away from setting base in America’s backyard.

U.S. Missiles in Turkey

Immediately after the defeat of Germany and Japan in World War II and up until that momentous day when a U.S.-owned U2 Spy Plane relayed back what became known as the “historic images” that triggered the Cuban Missile Crisis, Soviet leaders perceived their country as inimitable, formidable, and invincible and far superior to the U.S. militarily and ideologically. Even with the proliferation of Soviet military buildup across the globe during the Cuban missile crisis, the administration in Washington, DC remained reluctant at deterring Soviet global threat. Thus, we could assume that the farewell reproach by statesman Eisenhower fell on John F. Kennedy’s deaf ears. Although many contemporary historians may allude the Soviet missile build-up in Cuba to be a countermeasure to the U.S. U2 spy plane shot by the Soviets over Soviet Union airspace, in contrast, to Anatoly Dobrynin-the man who remained Soviet ambassador to the United States during the terms of six American presidents, from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan-“the Soviets had been perturbed by the presence of NATO missiles in Turkey. [22]

The Soviet Union may have been a dedicated ally of the U.S. during World War II, but the truth of the matter is, it transformed into a venomous serpent immediately after the war concluded, perhaps in direct retaliation for the 20 million Russian lives lost and the devastation wrought from 1939 to 1945. By championing communism-an ideology that vehemently denounced American system of free enterprise in the strongest terms-Soviet leaders fervently took a perilous road for the sake of, needless to say, empowering and disseminating their godless ideology of collectivism while feverishly denigrating the democratic system of governance enjoyed by the United States and her western European allies.

Ineffective United Nations

Because of the veto power enjoyed by the two superpowers-the U.S. and Russia, the United Nations, the highest organization having jurisdiction over matters pertaining to international disputes, remained equally ineffective in settling the Cuban missile crisis. The U.N. was either ineffective or at the sidelines during the siege of Berlin, in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and in Afghanistan. Historically, whenever a dispute arose with incumbent Soviet politburos, leaders of the United States oftentimes preferred settling matters of concern through diplomatic means even though the behaviors of key holders to the Kremlin may have appeared obstinate and inappropriate. [23] According to a very informative and important document available on George Washington University web site, “Fidel Castro recommended to the Kremlin a harder line against Washington, even suggesting the possibility of nuclear strikes. The pressure stopped after Soviet officials gave Castro a briefing on the ecological impact on Cuba of nuclear strikes on the United States.”[24]

Analysis

Like past and current political analysts, political scientists, presidential historians, diplomatic observers, and the multitudes of international relations students who remain skeptical about how the Kennedy administration handled the Cuban Missile Crisis, arguably, the administration of the day did not apply the required skills nor did it institute the right measures to outmaneuver the Soviets before the deadly weapons reached America’s backyard. Lack of rigorous national security arrangements, the failure to infiltrate to the core Soviet-Cuban global conspiracy, and the absence of collective efforts to safeguard U.S. security from outside dangers by the National Security Council (NSC), enabled Khrushchev to clandestinely set base in communist Cuba. The absence of rigid national security establishment hindered the United States’ determination to restrain the spread of communism and to contain the Cuban missile crisis. Had there been close cooperation between the various sectors of the national security establishment and had there been profound monitoring of the spread of communism in the Caribbean peninsula, the spate of Soviet aggression would have been curtailed and kept at bay through preemption-a doctrine that came to fore during the reign of George W. Bush. However, after decades of baffling U.S. political misgivings toward the Soviet Union, it was the reflections and initiatives of George Keenan that gave the United States the strength of character to contain the Soviet Union-a long-term policy espousing fortitude and good judgment that proved productive during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. George Keenan, the U.S. Charge d’affaires in Moscow and author of the cable known to history as the “long telegram”, was a bright career Foreign Service diplomat and Soviet expert and a Princeton nonconformist who left significant footprints that benefited several U.S. presidents.

Endnotes

[1] Robert Smith Thompson, Missiles of October: The Declassified Story of John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis, Simon and Schuster, Simon and Schuster Building, Rockefeller Center, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
[2] Robert Smith Thompson: Ibid., p. 139

[3] Lieutenant Colonel Maureen M. Lynch (USMC0): Cuba, Castro, and the Cuban Missile Crisis
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/report/1995/LMM.htm
(Accessed December 3, 2010)

[4] Steven W. Hook et al., American Foreign Policy since World War II (18 Ed.), 2300 N Street, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20037

[5] Steven W. Hook et al: Ibid., p. 33

[6] Stephen E. Ambrose, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy since 1938, 5th rev. ed. (New York: Penguin, 1988), 79.

[7] Robert A. Pollard, Economic Security and the Origins of the Cold War, 1945-1950, New York, Columbia University Press, 1985.

[8] Norman Polmar et al., Defcon-2: Standing on the Brink of Nuclear War During the Cuban Missile Crisis, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey (P7)

[9] Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali, “One Hell of a Gamble”: The Secret History of the Missile Crisis, W.W. Norton & Company Ltd., 10 Coptic Street, London WC1A 1

[10] Fursenko and Naftali: Ibid., p.1X

[11] Robert Robinson, Black on Red: My 44 Years in the Soviet Union, An Autobiography by Black American, Acropolis Books, LTD., Alphons J. Hackl, Publisher, Colortone Building, 2400 17th St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009

[12] John Dulles, Arlington National Cemetery Website, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Foster_Dulles#Bibliography
(accessed June 1, 2010)

[13] Fursenko and Naftali: Ibid., p. 29
[14] Robert Smith Thompson: Ibid., p. 187
[15] Robert Smith Thompson: Ibid., p.82
[16] Robert Smith Thompson: Ibid., p. 162
[17] Robert Smith Thompson: Ibid., p.163

[18] Lars Schoultz, That Infernal Little Cuban Republic: The United States and the Cuban Revolution, The University of North Carolina Press (2009)

[18] Lars Schoultz: Ibid., p. 320
[19] Lars Schoultz: Ibid., p. 3

[20] Remarks at a Debate Watch Party, Coral Gables, Florida, 30 September 2004, WCPD, 2196; remarks at New Port, Rhode Island, 28 June 2007, WCPD, 2 July 2007, 882.

[21] Fursenko and Naftali: Ibid., p. 45

[22] Obituary, Anatoly Dobynin, published 08 Apr 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/7568616/Anatoly-Dobrynin.html
(Accessed December 3, 2010)

[23] Henry Kissinger, Diplomacy, Simon and Schuster, Rockefeller Center, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

[24] William Burr and Svetlana Savranskaya, Previously Classified Interviews with Former Soviet Officials Reveal U.S. Strategic Failure Over Decades, Washington, DC September 11, 2009.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nukevault/ebb285/index.htm
(Accessed June 28, 2010)

Bibliography

Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali, “One Hell of a Gamble”: The Secret History of the Missile Crisis, W.W. Norton & Company Ltd., 10 Coptic Street, London WC1A 1PU

David Isenberg, The Pitfalls of U.S. Covert Operations, Cato Policy Analysis No. 118 Retrieved July 3, 2010 from
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/PA118.HTM

John Dulles, Arlington National Cemetery Website,
Retrieved July 3, 2010 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Foster_Dulles

Lieutenant Colonel Maureen M. Lynch (USMC): Cuba, Castro, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, retrieved July 3, 2010 from
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/report/1995/LMM.htm

Robert Smith Thompson, Missiles of October: The Declassified Story of John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis, Simon and Schuster, Simon and Schuster Building, Rockefeller Center, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 1002

William Burr and Svetlana Savranskaya, Previously Classified Interviews with Former Soviet Officials Reveal U.S. Strategic Failure Over Decades, Washington, DC September 11, 2009.
Retrieved July 3, 2010, 2010 from
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nukevault/ebb285/index.htm

The Impact of Globalization on Liberia’s Ecosystem

Image via Wikipedia

Introduction

Contrary to global socio-economic expectations, the West African state of Liberia has been slowly capitalizing on the growing and unique human interaction and interconnectedness sweeping the world in the name of globalization. Decades of recurring civil wars, coup d’états, endemic corruption, environmental pollution, and protracted insecurity has made Liberia a laughing stork in a world experiencing tremendous economic globalization. Despite Liberia’s proximity to the United States in terms of culture, politics, and history and despite Liberia containing abundant exploited and unexploited natural resources, the country has not achieved much in terms of economic globalization. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on how globalization has impacted the ecosystem of the said beleaguered, impoverished, and war-ravaged nation and how Multinational Corporations (MNCs) have been in the forefront of depleting, polluting, and imposing immeasurable strain on Liberia’s ecology in the absence of corporate social responsibility.

Liberia: International Membership

Liberia is party to the following International Agreements: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, and Wetlands. It has signed but not ratified the following agreements: Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, and Marine Life Conservation.[1] The unemployment rate of Liberia is 85%; population below poverty line is 80%; as of December 2008, commercial bank prime lending rate stood at 14.4%; inflation rate (consumer prices) stood at 11.2% (2007); as of 2006 Liberia’s estimated exports was $1.197 billion while estimated imports was $7.143 billion for the same year. [2]

Definition of Globalization

John Baylis, in his book The Globalization of World Politics, defines globalization as: “a historical process involving a fundamental shift or transformation in the spatial scale of human social organization that links distant communities and expands the reach of power relations across regions and continents.” [3] Said other way, globalization is the collective integration of political, economical, and cultural efforts across the globe. It emphasizes and incorporates trade and technology, health and culture, environment and migration, investment, banking and money issues, development and gender issues, international law and organizations, energy, human rights, global education, and global media. While globalization has been applauded in different regions as a strong allocator of resources, distrust and indecision to grasp its benefits has left many Third World nations including Liberia lagging behind in the field of economic globalization. There are very few Multinational Corporations (MNCs) in Liberia. One such notable MNC is the Firestone Corporation. “Multinational Corporations are private, for-profit organizations that have commercial operations and subsidiaries in two or more countries.” [4] MNCs may be headquartered in one country but have subsidiaries in secondary countries. MNCs retain ownership of and managerial control over subsidiaries while producing goods and services for the world markets at the least possible cost. [5]

Rubber Introduction and Production

Rubber was introduced to Liberia from South America in 1900s with Bridgestone, a Japanese company-the parent company of Firestone-owning the largest rubber plantation. The first large-scale rubber plantation was started in 1906, when American industrialist, Harvey Firestone started 118,000 acre (48,000 ha.) concession some 50 kilometers east of the Liberian capital Monrovia. Despite being owned by Bridgestone, Firestone has it’s headquarter in Nashville, Tennessee. In total, there are seven major rubber tapping companies in Liberia, namely: Firestone, Liberia Agricultural Company (LAC), Guthrie, Liberia Company (LIBCO), Salala Rubber Corporation, Cavalla and Sinoe Rubber Corporation (SRC). According to a 2002 IMF report, Liberian rubber exports were estimated at 54.7 million USD with rubber production accounting for 99,569 tons for the same period. [6] Even though rubber is a source of immense wealth for Liberia, persistent corruption undermines the equitable distribution of resources. A comprehensive report produced by a joint publication of Partnership Africa Canada (PAC) and the Association of Environmental Lawyers of Liberia (Green Advocates) states: “Firestone, after all, has been extracting rubber from Liberia for over 70 years, and has so far not manufactured so much as a single rubber band in the country.” [7] There have been widespread manipulations of the economy of Liberia by the rubber producing sector. This is stipulated in a comprehensive produced by UNMIL. “In May 2006, the UNMIL Human Rights and Protection Section (HRPS) studied Liberia’s rubber sector and published a series of key findings and recommendations pertaining to the sector. 66 Issues that it examined included human rights concerns pertaining to the industry; post-conflict business practices and corruption; the status of and role of commercial rubber concession and management agreements; worker, child, and community rights; implications of plantation agriculture and sectoral industrial practices for the environment; and the rule of law within the rubber sector, including issues relating to ex-combatant occupation of plantations.” [8] According to UNMIL reports, labor disputes with rubber conglomerations remain a security concern for the government of Liberia (GOL).

Negative Implication of Globalization

The interaction of plants, animals, and other organisms with the environment is defined as an ecosystem and may include deserts, grasslands, tundra, deciduous forests, and tropical rain forests. Any form of alteration in the ecosystem like logging, slash-and-burn, soil erosion, insect infestations, desertification, and desertization usually results in environmental depletion and ecological degradations. Scientifically, pollution is defined as “an undesirable change in the physical, chemical or biological characteristics of air, water, soil, or food that can adversely affect the health, survival, or activities of humans or other living organisms.” [9] The refusal by some developed countries to ratify the Kyoto Protocol has raised wild condemnations. Environmental scientists have come up with what they refer to as “Pollution Haven Hypothesis” which will allow China and India to be exempt from emission caps because of the United States’ refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. On the other hand, because of this exemption, domestic industries will head to China and India. “A common criticism is that advanced economies have often moved their more dirty industries to other parts of the world where there are less stringent environmental and social standards. As a result, other countries may be polluting on their behalf…” [10]

Current environmental issues for Liberia include tropical rain forest deforestation; soil erosion; loss of biodiversity; pollution of coastal waters from oil residue and raw sewage. Often, MNCs have been accused of practicing varying forms of exploitations: manipulation of child labor and environmental degradations in regions governed by corrupt regimes where laws are lax and ineffective. [11] Reports abound of workers suffering untold health hazards while perilously toiling extended hours in poor conditions. Liberia’s European-owned timber industries have been implicated in illegal arms trafficking. According to a 2003 report, arms shipments destined for Charles Taylor arrived at ports controlled by the timber industry. The report further affirms that arms shipments arrived from Eastern Europe every two to three weeks via Nigeria and Libya before being dispatched to their right destinations to wreck havoc on peaceful civilian populations. “The government’s timber policy ignored international logging restrictions by permitting timber companies to clear-cut large expanses of protected West African rain forest."[ 12] The departure of Charles has left Liberia in a state where the current central government under Ellen Johnson Sirleaf still remains confounded by traces of corruption and environmental pilfering. Usually, it takes many years for any nation to recover from such gross human miscalculations.

In Liberia, employers are not mandated by law to provide their employees with certain benefits such as medical, paid vacation, sick leave, and unemployment benefits that are enforced in the west. Working in concert with successive regimes that were unsympathetic to defenseless civilians, Firestone and like corporations meticulously depleted the Liberian ecosystem through pollution, destruction of fauna and flora, and the practice of negative externalities. Employees of Firestone have consistently complained about Firestone’s indiscriminate dumping of toxic wastes into the riverways adjacent to the plantations owned by Firestone without considering the consequences these chemicals may have on the workers’ health. Workers complained of exposure to pesticides, formaldehyde, and toxic fumes from ammonium nitrate during rubber processing. With a meager wage of USD 3.19 a day, workers, oftentimes, with the help of their children, have to work 21 exhausting hours a day, to tap 1,000 trees.[13]

In the past, Bridgestone/Firestone sponsored the Super Bowl with the goal of showcasing its brands to 1 billion viewers around the world. Ironically, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who in the past closed his eyes to the actions of Bridgestone/Firestone by allowing it to be a sponsor of the NFL, is a board member of Action for Healthy Kids. An organization whose goal is to fight the causes of obesity and undernourishment in children, the vision of Action for Healthy Kids is to ensure “all kids develop the lifelong habits necessary to promote health and learning.

Positive Implication of Globalization

Despite globalization integrating capital, technology, and information across national borders, tensions exist between the globalization system and ancient forces of culture, geography, tradition, and community. Before the outbreak of the civil in 1989, Liberia was the leading producer of Iron ore in Africa with sizable deposits found in the Bomi Hills, the Bong Range, the Mano Hills, and Mount Nimba, where the largest deposits occur. Other minerals include diamonds, gold, lead, manganese, graphite, cyanite (a silicate of aluminum, with thin bladelike crystals), and barite. With increased hardwood timber production, Coffee and Cacao cultivation, Liberia has seen substantial increase in the number of foreign corporations settling in the country. Just like its neighbor Sierra Leone, the abundance of uncut diamonds necessitated the spread of “blood” or ‘conflict” diamonds, consequently prompting the UN to impose a ban in 2001. Under the auspices of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, an international program that ensures that the rough diamonds trade does not finance armed conflict, diamond mining resumed in 2007 with the blessings of the UN.

The registration of foreign merchant ships under the Liberian “flag of convenience” has made Liberia one of the world's leading countries in registered shipping tonnage second after Panama. The announcement by President George W. Bush on May 31, 2003 of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) saw Liberia sign sea boarding agreement on February 11, 2004 which gives either one of parties to this agreement the right to board, search, and if possible detain any ship found to be harboring suspicious cargo. Such initiatives have given Liberia, Panama and other nations that are party to the PSI the obligation to bring about greater self-assurance in their flag registry. With ongoing deepwater oil exploration along the Atlantic coast, the prospect of tapping into black gold has so far not diminished. The presence of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) preceded by contingents from the Economic Cooperation of West African States (ECOWAS), the implosion of shipping lanes, the interaction of Liberians with the United States and the European Union (EU) through commerce, migration, and education and their mutual relationship with Asian countries like China, South Korea, and Japan through trade imports, and the elimination of policy barriers to trade and investment, have intensified economic globalization.

Income Inequalities

Attributing globalization to the demise of the poor is a misguided notion. With the exception of a few global leaders with futile beliefs towards globalization, many nations-especially developed ones-remain convinced that globalization does more good than harm to the poor. Those leaders opposed to globalization have the penchant to hold back the four components that are a forerunner for growth and development: economic integration, technology, political engagement, and personal contacts. Trade, Foreign Direct Investments, capital inflows and outflows, and net factor income are the determining factors in economic integration. Critics of globalization are of the opinion that globalization has brought rising inequality and poverty. Another downbeat argument by some writers or scholars is that MNCs significantly change the infrastructure of host countries and at the same time alters the culture and tradition of the locals they encounter.

Conclusion

Even though the cultural and environmental quandaries created by foreign-based transnational corporations like Firestone may seem disastrously discombobulating at first glance for any concerned environmentalist, the strengthening of the global environmental agency UNEP and the reinforcement of Liberia’s EPA could place a cap on further destruction of Liberia’s cultures, traditions, and the environment not only for the present but for posterity. As long as Firestone-Liberia and other multinational or transnational corporations operating in Liberia abide by the internationally recognized environmental standards management set forth by ISO 14000, there shouldn’t be any problem for it operating from far a field in any developing country including Liberia.

Endnotes
[1] Liberia: African Development Bank-World Bank Joint Assistance Strategy, 2008-2011 and Eligibility to the Fragile States Facility http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Project-and-Operations/Liberia_%20JAS%20BAD-WB%202008-2011%20Eligibility%20to%20the%20Fragile%20States%20Facility.pdf
(Accessed July 16, 2010)

[2] Liberia Economy 2010, CIA World Factbook,
http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/liberia/liberia_economy.html
(Accessed July 16, 2010)

[3] John Baylis et al., The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations (4e), Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6DP (P19)

[4] Kelly-Kate S. Pease, International Organizations, Perspectives on Governance in the Twenty-First Century (3rd. ed.), Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

[5] Gilpin, Robert, The Political Economy of International Relations, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1987

[6] United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), Human Rights in Liberia’s Rubber Plantations: Tapping into the Future (May 2006)
http://www.laborrights.org/files/UN%20Liberia%20Rubber%20Report-%20%20May%202006.pdf
(Accessed July 16, 2010)

[7] Land Grabbing and Land Reform: Diamonds, Rubber and Forests in the New Liberia
http://www.pacweb.org/Documents/diamonds_KP/17_Liberia-Land-Grabbing-Reform_Jul2007.pdf
(Accessed July 16, 2010)

[8] Liberia's Post-War Development: Key Issues and U.S. Assistance by Nicolas Cook Specialist in African Affairs, May 19, 2010
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33185.pdf
(Accessed July 25, 2010)

[9] G. Tyler Miller, Jr., Sustaining the Earth: An Integrated Approach, Thomson Higher Education, 10 Davis Drive, Belmont, CA 94002-3098

[10] Corporate Social Responsibility by Anup Shah, July 07, 2007
http://www.globalissues.org/article/723/corporate-socialresponsibility#Rankingcountriesontheircommitmentstocorporatesocialresponsibility
(Accessed July 16, 2010)

[11] Firestone in Liberia ‘pollution’-BBC News, Oct 29, 2009
http://www.stopfirestone.org/2009/10/firestone-in-liberia-pollution-bbc-news/
(Accessed December 3, 2010)

[12] Nations Hospitable to Organized Crime and Terrorism, Library of Congress-Federal Research Division, October 2003
(Accessed July 24, 2010)
http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/frd1003.pdf

[13] Emira Woods, Modern-Day Slavery and the Big Game February 3, 2008,
http://www.alternet.org/economy/75824/
(Accessed July 16, 2010)

Bibliography
96025: Liberia: Issues for the United States by Carl EK, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division, updated November 21, 1996
Retrieved July 17, 2010 from
http://www.fas.org/man/crs/96-025htm

Liberia: African Development Bank-World Bank Joint Assistance Strategy, 2008-2011 and Eligibility to the Fragile States Facility ,
Retrieved July 16, 2010 from http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Project-and-Operations/Liberia_%20JAS%20BAD-WB%202008-2011%20Eligibility%20to%20the%20Fragile%20States%20Facility.pdf

Liberia Economy 2010, CIA World Factbook,
Retrieved July 16, 2010 from
http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/liberia/liberia_economy.html

John Baylis et al., The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations (4e), Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6DP (P19)

Gilpin, Robert, The Political Economy of International Relations, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1987

United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), Human Rights in Liberia’s Rubber Plantations: Tapping into the Future (May 2006),
Retrieved July 16, 2010, from
http://www.laborrights.org/files/UN%20Liberia%20Rubber%20Report-%20%20May%202006.pdf

Kelly-Kate S. Pease, International Organizations, Perspectives on Governance in the Twenty-First Century (3rd ed.), Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Land Grabbing and Land Reform: Diamonds, Rubber and Forests in the New Liberia,
Retrieved July 16, 2010 from
http://www.pacweb.org/Documents/diamonds_KP/17_Liberia-Land-Grabbing-Reform_Jul2007.pdf

G. Tyler Miller, Jr., Sustaining the Earth: An Integrated Approach, Thomson Higher Education, 10 Davis Drive, Belmont, CA 94002-3098

Corporate Social Responsibility by Anup Shah, July 07, 2007,
Retrieved July 16, 2010 from
http://www.globalissues.org/article/723/corporate-socialresponsibility#Rankingcountriesontheircommitmentstocorporatesocialresponsibility

Firestone in Liberia ‘pollution’-BBC News, Oct 29, 2009,
Retrieved July, 16, 2010 from
http://www.stopfirestone.org/2009/10/firestone-in-liberia-pollution-bbc-news/

Tarnue Johnson, Ethics and business development in Liberia: The case of Firestone Natural Rubber Company, Tuesday, 25 August 2009,
Retrieved July 16, 2010 from
http://www.liberianforum.com/Academic-Papers/Ethics-and-business-development-in-Liberia.html

Emira Woods, Modern-Day Slavery and the Big Game, February 3, 2008,
Retrieved July 16, 2010 from
http://www.alternet.org/economy/75824/

The Impact of Globalization on Somali Culture

Image via Wikipedia

Abstract
Somalia, considered to be one of the world’s most homogenous nations, has not been exempt from the rapid wind of change currently engulfing the globe in the name of globalization. Since its inception in 1960 when it gained independence from Britain and Italy respectively after the merger of former British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland into what came to be known as the republic of Somalia, the impact of globalization on Somali culture has evidently been beneficial and detrimental in many aspects. The idea that a nation cannot progress economically without a strong central government does not coincide with the current upsurge in globalization where its impact is being felt in every corner of the world including the “stateless” nation of Somalia whose economy spiraled even with the absence of an effective central government.The immediate objective of this research is to uncover the negative and positive trends globalization has had on the Somali culture.

A Brief introduction of Somalia
Situated in the Horn of Africa, the Republic of Somalia has a land area of 637,540 square kilometers which makes it slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Texas. On a physical map Somalia resembles the figure seven or a rhino horn. Its terrain mostly consists of plateaus, plains, and highlands. Measuring 3,025km, Somalia has the longest coastline in the African continent followed by South Africa (2,798km). It is bordered by the tiny nation of Djibouti (inhabited by Somali-speaking people) to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden and Yemen to the north, Kenya to the southwest, the Indian Ocean to the East, and Ethiopia to the West. The population of Somalia was estimated by the United Nations in 2003 at 9,890,000 and is placed at number 80 in population terms among the 193 nations of the world.[1]

Somalia is endowed with unexploited mineral resources and vast maritime resources that have been a been source of contention since the collapse of the central government in 1991. The absence of a strong and effective government has left Somalia’s coastline prone to illegal fishing and dumping of toxic waste by foreign trawlers and the dreaded Mafia-an issue even voiced with deep concern by Mauritanian-born Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy for Somalia.[2] Somalia’s eastern coastline overlooking the Gulf of Aden has become a hotbed for piracy that brings in millions of dollars consequently rejuvenating the economy.[3] Even though Somalia is not in the list of oil producing countries, oil explorations carried out by Conoco, Amoco, Chevron, and Philips before the military junta fell strongly indicate it could possess significant exploitable reserves.[4] In modern times Somalia remains a strategically, economically, politically, culturally and religiously sensitive region.

Defining Globalization
The term globalization resonates with a novel and emerging global topic whose definition in the myriads of available international relations textbooks and dictionaries conjure up varieties of rudimentary connotations. Charles W. Kegley, Jr. and Shannon N. Blanton, in their book, World Politics: Trend and Transformation, describe globalization as the integration of states, through increasing contact, communication, and trade, to create a common global culture for all humanity.[5] The creation of a common global culture could sound a worrisome anecdote for those whose strength of character rest on the preservation of local heritage and dynamic cultures.

Globalization and Somalia
Globalization has been around the world for a long time beginning with the interaction and integration of different societies through international trade and investment. Somalia’s proximity to the Middle East and North Africa made it a center for commerce in historical antiquity with Somali sailors and merchants trading in myrrh, frankincense, ivory, and spices with ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians, Mycenaean, and Babylonians. Even though there could be similarities between Somalia’s previous era of globalization and the current one, today’s experience with globalization is to some degree more intense for Somalia and her trading partners.

Somalia’s trial with capitalism got off the ground immediately it gained independence when the nation’s leaders adopted democracy as the preferred form of governance for the country. That dream was shuttered by the arrival of a military government that changed the nation’s governing style to Leninist-Marxist ideology.

Somalia’s current political instability excludes it from exporting finished and unfinished products and goods to many countries because of trade barriers. However, Somalia is currently the United State’s 172nd trading partner with $65 million in total (two way) goods trade during 2008. It is also ineligible for trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). However, U.S. exports to Somali totaled $64 million in 2008 with exports mainly consisting of resins, nuts, and fruits.[6]

The excesses committed against Somalia’s educated elite who would have been the torchbearers of globalization by the military government that ruled Somalia between the years 1969 and 1991 imperiled the political, social, and economic welfare of the entire nation.

Crafted by an African economist, the phrase “African Disease” implies what is known in the west as “brain-drain” where multitudes of educated professionals migrate to the Americas and Europe in search of greener pastures. Somalia has never been an exception as it suffered the same fate as other African nations when the most educated and experienced left the country enmasse.

Colonial environment and Somali culture: Despite centuries of warfare with colonial encroachment, the Somali culture remained relatively free from external contamination unlike other African cultures that disappeared as a result of European colonial superiority. The Somali peripatetic way of life accelerated cultural cosmopolitanism, economic interdependence, mental modernization, and regional dominance making Somalis to inhabit the most expansive land that stretch from the Somali-inhabited region in Ethiopia to as far south as Kenya’s eastern and Northern provinces while in between traversing Djibouti and Somalia.

The division of Somalia into five regions depleted Somali cultural unanimity. The emperors who ruled the Ogaden region of Ethiopia exploited local Somali culture with the dominant Amharic national language infusing alien wordings into the Somali language. Likewise, Somalis in Kenya found their cultural and linguistic expansion interrupted by the elevation and imposition of Kiswahili as the nation’s lingua franca. In Djibouti, 114 years of French colonial rule retarded the Somali language. It was only in 1972 when the Somali language came into the glare of publicity after the official writing script developed by Shire Jama Ahmed became the unanimously accepted version in favor of the Latin and Osmaniya scripts-orthography invented in the early twentieth century by the Majeerteen poet and ruler, Osman Yusuf Kenadid.[7]

The Dynamism of Somali Culture
Somalia is a homogenous nation with a mix of rich culture. Somalis speak the same language which is Somali; they have one religion which is Islam, and they enjoy similar customs. It is the clan that determines one’s place in society. A small minority group, the Somali Bantu, considered the most vulnerable communities in Somalia, has been targeted for blanket resettlement in the US after suffering chronic discrimination and predatory attacks by ethnic Somalis.[8]

In the past two decades, Somali exposure to foreign ways of life greatly impacted previously existing inter-tribal relations among various groups. In some instances, improved intercommunication due to amalgamation of communal groups may be attributed to the alleviation of major barriers pertaining to intermarriage.

Clans that exclusively observed endogamous marriages due to customary restrictions have eased imposing constraints by allowing partners to partake in the formulation of exogamy thus leading to the creation of a wholly new concept of marital relationships never before seen in Somali culture.

Perhaps, the first European to venture into Somali territory who meticulously described the culture and language of the Somali people was Sir Richard Burton. About the people and their language, he wrote: “The country teems with “poets, poetasters, poetitos, and poetaccios:”

Every man has his recognized position in literature as accurately defined as though he had been reviewed in a century of magazines-the fine ear of this people causing them to take the greatest pleasure in harmonious sounds and poetical expressions, whereas a false quantity or a prosaic phrase excite their violent indignation.[9]

Somalia has been described as a “nation of poets”. The most famous Somali poet was Seyyid Mohamed Abdille Hassan who was dubbed “mad mullah” by the British colonial administration in the late 1900s. Poetry and prose play great roles in Somali daily life even in this era of globalization where it is used as a means of communication.

Several major universities across the globe have taken the responsibility of either teaching or collecting materials related to the advancement of the Somali language. One such example is the University of Indiana in Bloomington which boosts a large collection on Somali literature deposited by the Somali Studies International Association. These materials were acquired by the university with support from the US Department of Education Title VI grant.[10] The University of Ohio has included the teaching of Somali into its African studies program. Steve Howard, who is director of the program, was recently honored with the president’s award by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the current president of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. He was also presented with a statuette reading, "Thank you for being a friend of the Somali community."[11] Several European countries teach the Somali language to Somali children. Higher institutions of learning such as the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) which is part of the University of London, the Swedish Academy in Uppsala, and Rome University have specialized study programs preserved for the Somali language.[12]

Improved Telecommunications
Somalia has seen dramatic improvement in communications. According to a study carried out in sub-Saharan Africa by Benjamin Powell who is an Assistant Professor of economics at Suffolk University and a senior economist with the Beacon Hill Institute, Somalia moved from the 29th place to the eighth in terms of telephone landlines use per 1,000 of population since it became stateless in 1991. It ranks 16th in phone mobile use, 11th in internet users, and it ranks 27th in households with televisions.

It takes three days for a telephone line to be installed; the bill for a monthly landline costs $10 with unlimited local calls and international calls cost 50 cents a minute.

Due to the explosion of internet cafes, web access costs 50 cents per minute. According to the economist, using a mobile phone in Somalia is “generally cheaper and clearer than a call from anywhere else in Africa”.[13] The nation’s three biggest mobile phone companies, Hormuud Telecom, Nationlink, and Telecom Somalia enjoy 1.8 million customers who enjoy some of the cheapest rates in the world.[14]

Positive Implications of Globalization on Somali Diaspora Culture
The thousands of Somalis who settled outside of Somalia’s borders tremendously altered the political, social, and economic landscape of the Somali nation by injecting millions of dollars in the form of remittances into a beleaguered, impoverished, and war-ravaged nation ultimately resulting in the opening of the gates of globalization. In its March 2009 report, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) office for Somalia, estimated that Somali Diaspora remittances to the Horn of Africa nation amounted to over $2 billion in remittance flows.[15] According to the authors of the UNDP report, Somali Diaspora organizations may be credited for supporting or establishing service delivery facilities by providing regular funding flows meant for the payment of salaries in schools or hospitals. The significance of globalization and international political economy necessitate the transfer of goods and services. Thus, improved social interaction, enhanced communication, abundance and accessibility of maritime routes within Somalia’s coastline allows Somali businessmen to balance supply and demand in almost every region of the country regardless of daily hostilities.

Depending on the size or intricacy of developmental assistance, various Diaspora groups fund multifarious schemes not only in the health and education sectors but in construction, feeding centers, orphanage homes, digging of water wells, farming, banking, manufacturing, fishing, and the transportation sector.

When the military junta was in power, Somalia had only one national university. Thanks to the generous contributions of the Somali Diaspora and international organizations currently Somalia has over a dozen universities with Mogadishu University ranked 40 among 100 African universities, according to an international evaluation of world universities.
Professions that were once frowned upon by Somalia’s previously closed society have now turned out to be popular especially among aspiring youth residing in North America, Europe, and Eurasia. Massive resettlement initiated by Western nations and other self-propelled emigrational movements or undertakings enabled the heralding of a plethora of talented writers, internationally-acclaimed supermodels, and reputable artists. Modest education, easy contact with agents and publishing houses, access to computers, the internet, and general media have elevated the bulk of books, documentaries, and films consequently broadening the number of fans and readers. In the unrecognized breakaway republic of Somaliland and in the eastern autonomous region of Puntland, the semblance of peace has triggered a progression of various competing air travel companies, foreign-funded educational institutions, maritime trade and investment.

Negative Effects of Globalization on Somali Culture
General anarchy in southern Somalia and the rise of religious militancy coupled with foreign interference in Somali sovereignty have set bad precedents and adversely impacted the lives of ordinary Somalis. The proliferation of small arms and unsecured borders has forced many young Somalis to take sides in every major or minor conflict. Children as young as ten years make the bulk of child soldiers. Islamists who have laid claim to a bigger part of southern and central Somalia have imposed stringent measures on schools funded by the Diaspora by placing a ban on the teaching of English and the Sciences. They have also slapped a ban on western-style haircuts, western fashion, and western manners; in their efforts to fight vice, all cinema halls and video dens remain closed indefinitely; all men are required to have their trousers above the ankle otherwise they risk flogging or imprisonment or both; owners of television and radio stations have been told to refrain from playing music or else risk arrest and to make matters worse, the local VOA and BBC transmissions have been taken off the air and their equipments transferred to other radio stations owned by the Islamists.

The rise of Islamic militancy has not only affected Somalia but has also become a major political force in the Arab-Muslim world thus fostering chaos in “failed” states such as Sudan, Afghanistan, and now Iraq.[16] The globalization of al-Qaida and the drastic rise of radicalism after September 11, 2001 inspired the spread of proxy wars in the Horn of Africa with Somalia becoming the major breeding ground for extremists from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, US, Canada, Europe, and elsewhere.

As a result of acculturation, many Somali children born overseas have lost in touch with reality. Many of these kids have lost their parents’ cultural heritage and no wonder prison houses in Minneapolis, Ohio, California, Quebec, and Ontario hold sizable population of Somali convicts-mainly among the youth who could not find role models to emulate since majority of parents remain illiterate. Majority of offenders who are high school dropouts eventually resort to drug abuse and addiction, rape, murder, violence, and other horrendous criminal acts. The rate of unwanted pregnancies continues to skyrocket among girls; the numbers of dysfunctional homes raise alarming figures; the break-up of families and the percentile of ‘single mothers’ remains disturbing. Sizable figures of Somali Diaspora kids have become victims of stress, depression, panic, mental disorders, and anxiety.[17]
Somalis have settled in many parts of the world including Europe, North America, the Middle East, East Africa, South Africa, and North Africa. Approximately 2.5 million immigrants have secured resettlement in these regions.

Despite the hardships the dysfunctional country has been through for almost two decades, one thing is for certain: globalization is taking root at a greater pace almost everywher in in lawless Somalia. Since Somalis are naturally business-driven people, one would be out of touch to associate Somalia's economical boom with the monies generated from illegal pirating activities. Past economic strangulation, sweeping monopolization, and austerity measures imposed by the fallen regime had been the major causes of Somalia's underdevelopment witnessed from 1969 to 1991. The exit of the military regime ushered in the much-needed freedom from government involvement.


References

[1]Encyclopedia of the Nations: http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Somalia-POPULATION.html
[2]‘Toxic Waste’ Behind Somali Piracy by Najad Abdullahi, Aljazeera (October 11, 2008). http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/10/2008109174223218644.html
[3]Helen Kennedy, Piracy big boon to Somalia economy; hotels, restaurants sprout in port of Eyl in pirates' presence, nydailynews, (April 9, 2009). http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/04/10/2009-04-10_piracy_boon_to_somalia_economy.html
[4]Natural Resources (Somalia), Natural Resources: http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Sentinel-Security-Assessment-North-Africa/Natural-resources-Somalia.html
[5]Charles W. Kegley, Jr. and Shannon L. Blanton, World Politics: Trend and Transformation (12ed), Wadsworth, 20 Channel Center Street, Boston, MA 02210
[6]Office of the United States Trade Representative: Executive Office of the President: U.S-Somalia Trade Facts. (May 26, 2010): http://www.ustr.gov/countries-regions/africa/east-africa/somalia.
[7]Shire Jama Ahmed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Jama_Ahmed
[8]Rachel Swarns, “Africa’s Lost Tribe Discovers American Way,” New York Times (10 march, 2003).
[9]Sir Richard Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa, Tylston and Edwards, The Meccan Press, 3 Soho Square, London, WMDCCCXC1V.
[10]History of Indiana University’s Somali Collection: http://www.indiana.edu/~libsalc/african/Digital_Somali_Library/history.html
[11]Youtube.com, www.ohio.edu/outlook/09-10/October/79a.cfm
[12]The Institute of Practical Research and Training: The Role of Somali language in Education by Mohamed H. Rabi. http://www.iprt.org/role_of_somali_language_in_educa.htm
[13]Benjamin Powell, Somalia: Failed State, Economic Success?, Freeman: Ideas on Liberty, (April 2009) • Volume: 59 • Issue: 3 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/somalia-failed-state-economic-success/
[14]Somali mobile phone firms thrive despite chaos by Abdi Sheikh and Ibrahim Mohamed, Reuters (Nov 3, 2009) http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE5A20DB20091103
[15]The Missing Million: The Role of the Diaspora in Somali Development, a report for the UNDP by Hassan Sheikh and Sally Healy, (March 2009). http://www.so.undp.org/index.php/Somalia-Stories/Forging-Partnerships-with-the-Somali-Diaspora.html
[16]Laurent Cohen-Tanugi. The Shape of the World to Come: Charting the Geopolitics of a New Century. Trans. George Holoch, Columbia University Press (2008): pp.9
[17]The Inglorious Absentee Father in Contemporary Somali Politics by A. Duale Sii'arag. (Feb. 27, 2010). http://wardheernews.com/Articles_2010/February/Sii%27arag/27_The_inglorious_absentee_father.html

EID MUBARAK, EID MUBARAK

Image via Wikipedia

Eid Mubarak to all Muslims worldwide.

Modernization and Dependency

Image via Wikipedia

Much of Third World countries-also known as Global South or Least Developed Countries (LDC)-tremendously suffered at the hands of their former masters. Colonialism in Africa was plotted in a European conference in Berlin in 1884 leading to what became known as the "Scramble for Africa". Under the auspices of King Leopeld II of Belgium, conference attendees who were mainly Europeans jossled for domination of the "Dark Continent". Africa became property owned by imperial powers of Western Europe. They included the British, French, Belgium, Germany, and Spain.

Psychobiographical observations of notable European leaders who participated in the dismemberment of the African continent identfy idiosyncratic personality traits in generally recognized neuroses and psychoses.

In explaining conflict and cooperation, admirers of international relations, take a glimpse of three levels of analysis: the individual level, the state level, and the system level. At the individual level political scientists endeavor to dissect the material and moral character of the person in charge of the state while observing the nature of state operations as well as the international structure and system. Named after the fourteenth-century philosopher William of Occam, the rule of parsimony or Occam's razor is the ability to explain a lot with a little.

In economics, monopoly implies one seller; duopoly denotes two big sellers; and oligopoly is when there are several big sellers. Thus, paradigms and theories evolve when studying power and politics. A paradigm is a toolkit or handbook for deciphering structures of knowledge. Key features of paradigms in politics include realism, liberalism, constructivism/idealism, and marxism. States, nonstate actors, and economics constitute the basic assumptions, concepts, and propositions employed by political theorists. In the study of world politics, dominant paradigms each begin with unanswered questions called axioms.

Some political theories are older than others; others trace their roots to ancient Greece. Liberalism which entails desire to live well, seeking justice and welfare in addition to security, military power, trade, investment, negotiation, and persuasion, competition and cooperation, neoliberal institutionalism and democratic peace, and non-Hobbesian anarchy has its roots in the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648.

Osama bin Laden, the head of al-Qaeda is a constructivist/idealist and a nonstate actor. His dominant instrument depends on historical period and social context. His interests are socially constructed through interaction. His dominant human drives include need for an orderly, meaningful social life. Constructivism/idealism is a tender, theoritical thought requiring more modest and continuous research.

The dynamics that led to the resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism (or revivalism) in Afghanistan, Iran, and other parts of the Muslim world are multifaceted in outlook. Armed and unarmed radicals believed that they were duty-bound to conduct “holy war” or jihad against corrupt forces that threatened to tarnish the image of their essential religious principles. Radicals feel it is their divine duty to liberate their lands from invaders and imperialists. They tend to shield unwanted outsiders from imposing on them practices alien to their morals, religion, customs, and convictions.

Often radicals become disillusioned with so-called “imposed leaders” who fail to marshal in sweeping changes to disgruntled and afflicted societies lacking basic social services. Inequalities in education, health care, and other social aspects often led to armed insurrections, violent confrontations, and abrupt changes in government. Resentment of foreign domination and domestic enemies brought about popular uprisings in Iran and Afghanistan. The rise of the Taliban came as a result of the Mujahedeen’s dissatisfaction with the Marxist government and the Soviets who supported it. Recurring, aggravating, and unsolvable radicalization may continue for generations to come.

Since 9/11 there has been tremendous increase in the number of people admiring Osama bin Laden-the spiritual leader Al Qaeda. Supporters of bin Laden view his struggle against the mighty United States, Israel, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a moral jihad. Followers of bin Laden believe it is a moral conviction to wage holy war against the Zionist-Crusader alliance and their collaborators-a reference to the United States’ support of Israel in its occupation of Palestine and support for corrupt Muslim regimes in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, and Jordan.

A country’s transition to democracy may increase ethnic tensions in some cases and decrease in others. As in the case of Brazil, relative ethnic harmony exists despite persistence of ethnic discrimination. The predomination of one ethnic group over another is at times recipe for uneasy balance.

Irregularities in Kenya’s presidential election in 2008 resulted in the Kikuyu and Luo tribes slaughtering each other. The Kikuyu dominated Kenya’s government bureaucracy and the private sector from the time the nation attained independence from England in 1963. Kenya’s first president, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta (deceased 1978 and buried in a golden mausoleum in Nairobi), was a Kikuyu. There has been a lull in imposed hierarchy during the 24-year uninterrupted rule of Daniel Arap Moi who was from the Kalenjin tribe. Anthropologically, the Luo and Kalenjin are classified as Nilotes or Nilotic (meaning those who reside along the Nile River) while the Kikuyu are Bantus.

The beating of the drums of democracy by Smith Hempstone (deceased), the United States ambassador to Kenya at that time, Kenya’s opposition, and the efforts of the European Union (EU) and the U.S., led to the demise of singularism and the birth of multiparty democracy. Jomo Kenyatta may be remembered for his famous saying: “every dog has its day”. He meant that it was the time for his Kikuyu tribe to enjoy the fruits of independence and that other tribes had to wait their turn or time.

Likewise, the slaughter of almost a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994 has its roots in the unequal distribution of power and natural resources. Systematic violence was overcome in Kenya with the involvement of the international community. But that was not the case in Rwanda. It was the current president, General Paul Kagame, who installed law and order after vanquishing Hutu rebellion and ultimately pursuing the rebels into the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The resulting violence in Kenya led to the deaths of over 2,000 and the displacement of over 300,000 persons.

Similarly, the collapse of Somalia’s central government in 1991 may be attributed to the consolidation of power by the former president’s clan or tribe-the Darod. Despite the Hawiye (a major Somali clan) dominating the private sector, the military government’s monopoly of the economy left the Hawiye and other major clans/tribes bitter and angry. The sudden collapse of the military junta allowed aggrieved clans/tribes to fight over power and dwindling resources.

In the case of Malaysia, ethnic Malays dominate government bureaucracy while the Chinese minority dominates the private sector. When both forms of power (political arena and the economy) fall into the hands of one ethnic group, tensions evolve leading to the breakup of democratic institutions of governance.

Enforced hierarchy (ethnic dominance) remained prevalent in South Africa in the zeniths of apartheid. During the heydays of apartheid, white South Africans dominated the government and the private sector such that uprisings became common.

It was U.S. President Woodrow Wilson who advocated the theory of African self-determination and self-government. Also known as decolonization, Wilson's thoughtful insights led to armed struggles in many parts of Africa under European imperial rule. Wilson did not realize that colonial powers would resist decolonization. The superior fire power of European powers cut short the lives of millions of Africans whose only crime was freedom from colonial rule. During Wilson's leadership an estimated thirty million souls died worldwide as a result of his blemished and foggy theoritical thoughts.

Ironically, at the time of slicing the African continent, many European leaders suffered from a variety of phsiological, neurological, and psychological afflictions most notably self-loathing, sexual frustration, lack of confidence and self-esteem, subconcious fears, gluttony, broken marriages, and a concoction of unsolvable needs and desires.

Modernization Theory
The greatest contributions of modernization theory had been the injection of contemporary political and economic institutions of governance that was alien to Third World nations. Despite the biting effects of colonialism on Third World Nations, economic growth, political democracy, the creation of trained bureaucracies, enhancement of education, proliferation of urbanization, creation of specialized institutions, and the spread of mass media introduced by developed nations opened new avenues for newly-evolved nations.

The current spate of modernization visible in Japan may be attributed to Japan’s initial encounter with Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry who fired the first shots of modernization into Japanese waters. Amazed by the devastating effects of the volleys of gunfire from Commodore Perry’s ships anchored off Japanese waters, imperial Japan thereafter embarked on inspiring modernization efforts that came to be the envoy of many western nations-including the United States. For decades, Japan has been an undisputed leader in computer technology, industries, and car manufacturing.

Likewise, the United States may be credited for marshaling novel cultural traditions that remain a force to reckon with. From Cape Town to Cairo in Africa and from Seoul in South Korea to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno in the Galapagos (part of Ecuador), the scrumptious tastes of McDonald’s burgers and fries, Hollywood movies, rock music, modern military hardware, advanced educational systems and meticulous curricula, printed T-shirts, faded or stone-washed Jeans, and a plethora of innovations exported from the United States remain a hallmark in every hemispheric projection.

However, many downward trends came with Modernization theory. Many nations that had previously developed economically and industrially under the banner of modernization, experienced drastic collapse of democratic institutions and the birth of repressive military dictatorships.
Despite commendable industrial growth and greater income, the most economically developed nations like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay experienced a bitter clash of social classes resulting from unequal distribution of resources and paving way for the evolvement of a new insightful study that came to be known as conflict theory.

Dependency Theory
Some of the main contributions of dependency theory include the spread of western influence like modern values, technology, and institutions. However, dependency theory comes with many flaws that include exploitation of developing nations’ resources, military intervention in former African colonies, support of corrupt regimes as in Saudi Arabia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, and Cuba (before Castro) by the United States. As a result of colonialism, Third World countries nurtured their former colonial masters by providing cheap food and raw materials.

Superfluously Unrefined Political Theories That Brought Somalia to Her Knees

Image via Wikipedia

"When I came to Mogadishu... [t]here was one road built by the Italians. If you try to force me to stand down, I will leave the city as I found it. I came to power with a gun; only the gun can make me go"-Major General Mohamed Siyad Barre, former President of Somalia.

After decades of horrendous struggle with the forces of European colonialism, Somalia became a sovereign republic in 1960. Former colonial masters England and Italy left Somalia in haste leaving behind a potpourri of baffling and undecipherable political condiments that instantaneously generated ripple effect in a society used to pastoral and nomadic lifestyles. Somalia may have been the first African country to grasp the values of liberal democracy albeit the redundancy of its improvised political elite, clan configuration, and the explosion of nomenklatura retarding the propagation of an inflexible political philosophy that would serve as the structural foundation for the immature and fragile emerging nation-state.

From its inception, Somali leadership was reminiscent of a kindergarten without a guardian. Of the thirteen founders of the Somali Youth League (SYL), only three had college degrees. Shortage of educational institutions made governance a recipe for disaster as emulsification of tribalism and preferential treatment widely practiced by the authorities eroded cultural homogeneity and social cohesion. Instead of embarking on streamlining the values of social equality and economic emancipation, the nation’s leaders sought to engage in unnecessary quandaries of political irredentism by igniting a regional confrontation with neighboring Kenya and creating restlessness for the regime in power in Ethiopia. Lack of guiding philosophical thoughts, inherently aggressive behaviors, and the application of unworkable approaches and obsession with the fundamentals of defensive realism brought about an overarching security dilemma for the entire Horn of Africa region.

The assassination of President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke in 1969 shepherded contention and strife among a pastoral and orally effusive nation. On October 21, 1969, a day after Shermarke’s funeral, Somalia’s hybrid democracy was thrown overboard when a group of military officers headed by Major General Mohamed Siyad Barre, took over the reins of power in a bloodless coup. Drawing heavily from the traditions of China, the military junta adapted scientific socialism for the governing of the nation. Theoretically pioneered by Karl Marx, the term scientific socialism was used by Friedrich Engels to refer to social-political-economic developments and is largely determined by material (economic) conditions. The military junta under Barre nationalized almost all industries, banks, insurance companies, oil distribution firms, and businesses while cooperative farming received a big boost.

Akin to the communist system of volunteer work, unpaid laborers built roads and hospitals and planted and harvested crops. As he predicted during the early years of his presidency, Barre was forced to exit the political spectrum in 1991 by a ragtag militia using the barrel of the gun thus bringing to an end a repulsive political theory not in agreement with Islam. Barre passed away peacefully in Nigeria in 1995. His remains were buried in Garbaharey-the same town he claimed to have been born during his early quest for enlistment into the Italian administered Carabiniere (Carabineer).

Despite holding elections, the initial republic lacked fairness and equal justice. The few registered electors voted along tribal lines. Barre was the type of leader who, despite embracing scientific socialism, applied wise sayings to win the hearts and minds of his fellow citizens. A form of rule entailing the use of words and known as logocracy could best describe Barre’s governance from a broader perspective.

After Barre’s departure Somalia descended into chaos and civil disobedience. The line-up of notable figures that ascended the throne include Ali Mahdi Mohamed (January 1991 – 15 June 1995), General Mohamed Farah Aideed (15 June 1995 – 1 August 1996), Hussein Mohamed Farah Aideed (2 August 1996 – 22 December 1997) Abdiqasin Salad Hassan (27 August 2000 – 14 October 2004), Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (14 October 2004 – 29 December 2008), Adan Mohamed Nur Madobe (interim) (29 December 2008 – 31 January 2009), and the incumbent Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (31 January 2009 – Present). From 22 December 1997 to 27 August 2000, the post of president remained vacant.

From July 1, 1960 until 21 October, 1969 Somalia was officially known as Somali Republic and that the governing party was the Somali Youth League or SYL. From 21 October, 1969 until 27 August, 2000 the official name for Somalia was Somali Democratic Republic and that the succession of ruling parties included the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP), the United Somali Congress (USC), and the Somali National Alliance (SNA). Somalia changed name again on 27 August, 2000 with the rise of Abdiqasin Salad Hassan when it was baptized Republic of Somalia. Abdiqasin, Abdullahi Yusuf, and interim president Adan Madobe were not affiliated with any party and that the official name of the government was the Transitional Federal Government or TFG. The current president, Sheikh Sharif, belongs to the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS).

A thorough and accurate research on the metamorphosis of government types and governing styles Somalia has been through from the day the flag of independence was hoisted on July 1, 1960 could fill volumes. From 1960 to 1969 a flawed form of democracy devoid of conventional representation existed in name only. Even to this day, many countries exist that claim to espouse real democracy. But that is not the case; in fact they are defective democracies because they lack the right attributes of democracy. These are nations that lack social and economic modernization; they do not have class culture; and there is the absence of a political culture that is the embodiment of cultural beliefs, norms, and values relating to politics.

Economic giants Brazil and India are partial democracies because ethnic inequalities and social prejudice exist. Brazil is home to the largest population of the blacks outside Africa yet the minority white population control almost all of the economy. On the other hand, India has millions of Harijans (god’s Child) who lack basic social amenities. Nations like Kenya, Nigeria, the Philippines, Chile, and Indonesia are partial-democracies.

World War One instigated the implosion of World War Two. Likewise, the end of World War Two set pace for what became known as the Cold War. The tremors of the Cold War made many African nations incline to communism and thus began the explosion of authoritarianism. A greater percentage of the nations that adapted democracy as their preferred mode of governance ended up resorting to communism after successions of coups engineered by disgruntled military cadres imposed Leninist-Marxist forms of governance that retarded their forward match to economic developments. The rule by central committees, collectivization, militarization, and nationalization of economies resulted in a backward match to despondency, poverty, and general decline.

The taking of hard to digest counterfeit political prescriptions has been the major cause of Somalia’s current statelessness and disintegration. A complete democracy requires the hallmarks of liberalism and constructivism/idealism to advance forward to a brighter future. And for a democracy to succeed, it has to be substantive in general context. All citizens must have equal access to education, healthcare, and other available social amenities without regard to race, creed, color, religion, sex, gender or national origin. Liberal democracy leads to substantive democracy. Nations that exercise ostracization and marginalization of minorities, suppress the press (media), arbitrarily arrest opponents, and harass the opposition are doomed to fail. And that is how Somalia measured in the Democracy Index in its heydays. It was a nation with too many conflicting theories and superfluous governing styles.

Pirates Struggle for Survival

Image via Wikipedia

Piracy in the Horn of Africa continues to be a menace for international maritime shipping. Day by day pirates are coming up with novel tactics; they are acquiring modern weapons; they are purchasing sophisticated gadgets from the international markets; they have learned to cover thousands of miles away from home; their long hands have reached distant coastal waters; they have the capabilities of evading detection by the combined maritime task force.

According to Ecoterra International, over two-hundred sailors of various nationalities and over a dozen merchant ships flying assortments of flags of convenience remain in pirate hands along Somalia’s dreaded and ungovernable coastline. Somalia has a coastline measuring 3,333 km that is impossible to police.

Piracy has made many poor and disheveled men millionaires overnight. Men who once lived on the fringes of beggary now enjoy national limelight as they crisscross lawless Somalia with ease by riding in exotic luxurious cars protected by militias armed to the teeth. On the international level, they have the convenience of executive suits and arranged valets. They dine around manicured lawns while chuckling with men of like caliber.

Piracy masterminds are intellectually brainy; they keep low profile; and they are known to keep with the times. Pirate executives own fishing trawlers; they are worth millions of dollars; and they own shares in stocks and fishing factories. Many are polygamous, live in palatial homes, and send their children to expensive schools, colleges, and universities.

The piracy business employs over ten-thousand people ranging from those who maintain the dangerous deep-sea operations to those who guard and feed the sailors while ransom negotiations continue. An intricate operation exists between the bookkeepers, accountants, restaurateurs and shop-owners responsible for the provision of daily supplies.

The abundance of mind-altering drugs like qaad (Catha educlis) and amphetamines make the continuation of piracy a straightforward adventure. As long as the lawlessness in Somalia continues and as long as these two drugs are available for pirate consumption, endurance in long-distance travel, energy and drive, speed and aggression, sleeplessness and loquacity, will remain the driving factors in future piracy-related activities.

Garissa: The Largest City Between Nairobi and Mogadishu

Image via Wikipedia

The City of Garissa in Kenya’s North Eastern Province (NEP) has been on the top list of the most peaceful cities in East and Central Africa for over twenty years. It is the provincial headquarter of NEP as well as the administrative center for Garissa District. Named after a riverine local Pokomo elder or farmer called Karisa, Garissa became a recognized settlement in 1936. Majority of the inhabitants of Garissa are ethnic Somalis. Besides subsistence and small scale farming and local business initiatives by urbanites, livestock raring remains the major sustainer of the region’s economy. From 1963 when Kenya became a sovereign republic until the late eighties, the region suffered tremendous insecurity resulting from recurring banditry, poaching, and cattle-rustling.

However, according to Kenya government figures, Garissa District has continuously for years recorded the highest concentration of livestock in East and Central Africa. Traders in Garissa get their surplus livestock from Somalia’s southern regions consequently making Garissa a haven for livestock merchants primarily between the months of January and April when the volume of cattle substantially increases. Cattle trading in Garissa attract traders from as far as Machakos, Nairobi, Nyeri, Mombasa and other coastal towns during this time of the year consequently transforming the city into a beehive of activity. Despite generating enough revenue from the taxation of cattle sales, Garissa city has lagged behind other cities of Kenya in all aspects of development. The district’s markets in southern Somalia include Baidoa, Dinsor, Qorioley, Jowhar, Afgoi, Salagle, Bardhere and Afmadow, among others. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that 60-80% of livestock in Garissa originate from the Somali region in Ethiopia, Somalia, and other divisions with NEP.

In the past, the district experienced remarkable government involvement after health concerns related to the epidemiological outbreaks of Rinderpest (cattle plague or steppe murrain) and other devastating foot and mouth diseases necessitated in the enforcement of veterinary regulations, consequently and at times, leading to closure of cattle markets.

Despite being the major supplier of beef to major cities in Kenya and to as far as Tanzania and despite being the largest city between Nairobi and Mogadishu, Garissa greets its visitors with grim reality. With the exception of a teachers’ training college and one Islamic school founded by mindful businessmen and overseas-based organizations, the city has no university; it has no feasible infrastructure; the only visible tarmac located in the city center measures a few kilometers; its dusty potholed streets transform into lakes during rainy seasons; the municipality and the city council have no refuse collection systems in place thus making inhabitants susceptible to waterborne and airborne diseases; it has no manufacturing industries; unemployment is rife; drug addiction among the youth continues to skyrocket; poverty, beggary, and street children remain an eyesore and a social menace, and worst of all poor land allocation strategies riddled with corruption has been the major cause of civil skirmishes among the tribal-minded inhabitants resulting in government application of emergency laws such as extended curfews and deployment of the dreaded General Service Unit (GSU) together with the rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) to quell disturbances.

The city has a long history of election rigging; harassment of electors and opposition groups is common-dirty tricks and techniques inherited from past fallen autocratic regimes. Just like their cousins across the border, Somalis in Garissa and other parts of NEP have over and over again championed clan domineering approaches by unconventional means especially by rampant warring and ethnic animosities. Reminiscent of Somalia’s “Guulwadeyaasha” or revolutionary youth during the military junta, Kenyatta and Moi era governments relied on a force that recklessly represented the Kenya African National Union (KANU) Party-a consortium of embellished, underfunded youth wingers whose arguments rested on the just war doctrine of “kill or be killed”. Such political plunders ensured the uninterrupted reclamation of political structure and extension of inheritance for the old guards.

The trouncing of Moi’s single-party regime and the birth of multiparty democracy in 1992 did little to alter the pervasiveness of past odious events. In fact it exacerbated the political scenario when new contestants found their ambitions obstructed by the same old guards who jumped on the bandwagon using the same old tricks inherited from their past masters of deception.

The district has suffered poor county and parliamentary representation since Kenya’s attainment of independence in 1963. The reason the region is underperforming is due to the government's discriminatory practices of allocating resources, unfair distribution of wealth, outright marginalization of the people who inhabit the land, and diversion of funds earmarked for the region to other more prosperous regions.

Ironically, because of their adroitness at accumulating wealth, majority of the region’s uneducated councilors and parliamentarians have promoted their self-esteem and thus harbor elitist mentality such that even those who bowed out of politics remain a force to reckon with. These men have the power to imprison, kill or regain one’s freedom. While the poor suffer dental decay due to unhygienic eating habits coupled with shortage of dentists, the uneducated honorable parliamentarian or councilor displays sparkling white teeth because of abundance of money at his disposal. For a long time, stealing from state treasury has been a hallmark of African politics and Kenya, because of its corruption ranking profile, is no exception.

The Offspring of a Snake is a Snake
The above phrase is a translation of the Kiswahili saying “mtoto wa nyoka ni nyoka”. It has been used by corrupt Kenya leaders as a rallying cry to provoke non-Somalis to hate and oppress Kenya-Somalis. The saying inspired Kenya leaders after the succession of past Somali governments instigated political irredentism and supported the repossession of what used to be the Northern Frontier District (NFD) from the Republic of Kenya. This idiomatic expression and phraseologically provocative aphorism applied to almost every Kenyan-Somali and that its widespread use slackened only after the collapse of the Somali central government in 1991. The bitter territorial dispute that kicked-off between Kenya and Somalia in the 60s has gone down in history as the “Shifta War”. The word Shifta (or “shufta”) implies a bandit, outlaw, or rebel. The name became an allusion and nom de guerre for every Kenyan-Somali regardless of whether one was a law-abiding citizen or a contextually sadistic law-breaking criminal.
Thus, Kenya-Somalis saw themselves wedged between two diametrically opposed forces with profound conflicting ideologies-one a civilian authoritarian government (Kenya) with western inclinations and a dictatorial regime (Somalia) -espousing a plethora of political dimensions.

Thousands of families lacking guidance or controlling force or influence crossed the border into Somalia to escape rampant hostilities on the Kenya side. Leaders of the Northern Province People’s Progressive Party (NPPP) incorporated Somalis of diverse clans, Borana, Rendille, and others.

For decades, Garissa had been under the radar of Kenya security and intelligence agencies primarily because the region was under martial law decreed immediately after Kenya’s proclamation of independence. Besides the insecurity that came with the shifta menace, widespread illegal poaching by Somalis scavenging for better living conditions decimated-if not-drastically reduced wildlife concentration in Kenya’s internationally-acclaimed national parks and game reserves. Besides the hazards of wildlife plundering, poachers stealthily brought with them dangerous small arms that endangered the lives of government game wardens whose task implied the protection of wild game and the preservation of Kenya’s vigorous tourist industry. Since independence and till this day, tourism has been a cornerstone and sustainer of Kenya’s economy. The best the Kenya government can do for the moment and in the future is to fully integrate Kenya-Somalis and give them a share of the national cake.

Ethiopia’s Black Colonialism

Image via Wikipedia

Africa has been through rough times including slavery and slave trade, European colonialism, neo-colonialism, and dictatorship. Currently it is experiencing economic slavery, African slavery of Africans, and oppression of select societies who are struggling for self-determination, religious freedom, and political involvement.

A case in point is the oil and natural resources rich Niger Delta of Nigeria inhabited by the Ogoni people who have been denied a share of the national cake. The Government of Nigeria has underdeveloped the Ogoni people by denying them their inalienable rights. This part of Nigeria has become a forgotten region yet it is where Nigeria's 'Black Gold' is extracted. Discuss in-depth with Ogonis in the Diaspora and you will be amazed by the strange stories they narrate. Followers of Nigeria’s political events will recall the hanging of the academic, writer, poet, politician, and a businessman Ken Saro Wiwa by Sani Abacha's regime on a trumped up crime in the morning of November 10, 1995. "The blood of Ken Saro Wiwa will stain the name of Shell..." was a statement given by Greenpeace on learning the death of this great man. He was a man who fought for ecological and social justice for his people. Surprisingly, there is no armed struggle in Ogoni land except a few armed groups who wish to highlight their plight to the world through abductions and blowing up of pipelines that cause adverse effects on the economy of Nigeria and other fuel-dependent nations.

Now let's come back to the beautiful Horn of Africa and have a quick look at the Western Somali region in Ethiopia. The Western Somali region or the Ogaden region predominantly occupied by Somalis was given to Ethiopia by the European colonial powers in the aftermath of the Scramble for Africa and has remained underdeveloped ever since. The region has been an issue of contention between Somalia and Ethiopia for many years yet the international community has never bothered to intervene for the sake of saving the suffering masses. The inhabitants of this region have been victims of successive Ethiopian expansionist emperors and dictators with killings and imprisonment, rape and abductions, burning of villages and towns, underdevelopment and isolation and other inhuman means of torture being the methods used by the state machinery to silence dissent.

Somalia and Ethiopia went to war over this territory several times; the most recent being the 1977-1978 war that saw Ethiopia getting material and moral support from the former USSR, Cuba, and communist Yemen while Somalia stood alone in her endeavors to reclaim it.

Ethiopia has always denied committing human rights violations against the people of this region yet satellite images taken from razed villages and towns reveal the contrary. Towns and villages that have been intact and thriving in the past have been found leveled to the ground, thanks to modern human technological advances in the space sciences. This region of Ethiopia has been intermittently experiencing the worst natural disasters including flooding of rivers and drought that devastated crops and livestock-the only means of survival for the region’s impoverished pastoralist society. The region lacks schools, hospitals, roads, and visible infrastructure. The Ethiopian Government employs stooges from the region to advance its propaganda and political constipation.

A quick search for the region on the internet search engines reveals tons of information on the cultural, historical, and political struggle of the people of this region. Some document daily atrocities and incidents as they evolve. International organizations carrying out humanitarian activities in this region have been suppressed by successive Ethiopian governments with some facing expulsions for voicing their concerns. The government is using relief supplies as a tool to garner support from its oppressed inhabitants.

The discovery of oil in this region has increased tension and competition among energy-starved powers most notably China that has a big stake in Ethiopia's oil drilling and mineral exploration. The storming of an oil installation manned by a Chinese firm by the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and the subsequent killing of many of its workers contracted to the drilling and extraction of oil a few years ago brought the world media to attention. This incident made the world aware of the prevailing inhuman conditions and the treasures in the region.

Despite the huddles of getting access to the region because of government restrictions on travel and stringent visa procedures coupled with media censorship, several media houses were able to penetrate the region's most affected parts relaying convincing information that could be used to indict those suspected of committing human rights violations and genocide. Al Jazeera television, often referred to as the 'CNN of the Middle East', in an exclusive documentary on the region, showed harrowing images of destitution and suffering that was visible on the faces of many it was able to interview.

Ironically, successive Ethiopian governments have used inhuman methods to underdevelop this region including:

1.Unequal distribution of wealth
2.Misuse of donor funds meant for the impoverished region
3.Use of Tigreyan cadres to represent the community
4.Diversion of relief aid for military use
5.High illiteracy, high unemployment, and high mortality rate
6.Amharic language forced on to the people
7.Lack of veterinary services
8.Denial of farming technology
9.Biased state media
10.Conscription of civilians in to Ethiopian army to fight foreign wars
11.Print and electronic media in Amharic
12.Censorship of Somali-speaking media

Razor-Sharp-Mouthed Globetrotting Troglodytes
From the time Meles Zenawi was declared the overall winner of the pseudo-democratic elections held in Ethiopia last May, a retinue of Tigreyan troglodytes from Ethiopia’s Somali region have been circumnavigating the globe extending an olive branch to the Ethiopian-Somali Diaspora with a message of peace and reconciliation from the headquarters of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

Delegations led by razor-sharp-mouthed representatives relaying unconventional wisdom converged on major cities in the western hemisphere with a view to selling their distorted ideologies to predominantly unsuspecting and uninformed onlookers and sightseers. Shuttling between Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Diego, and Minneapolis, and several other European cities, these uncompromising impostors driven by party zealotry unleashed well-rehearsed ideologies and revolutionary desiderata by calling on participants to grab offers of democratic values of inclusivity-perhaps referring to variants like freedom, equality, equity, cooperation, peaceful resolution of disputes, the rule of law, popular sovereignty, representative democracy, economic well-being, equality of opportunity, equality of condition, and other democratic factors-aspects that are beyond reach in “Cruel Ethiopia”.

Led by tribal-minded political neophytes with past records of corruption and freewheeling lifestyles, EPRDF party apparatchiks gave conflicting imaginary statements aimed at winning the hearts and minds of the Ethiopian-Somali Diaspora. Do these so-called representatives of the EPRDF who are in essence Somalis themselves reflect the atrocities, repression, arbitrary arrests, denial of basic services, and the host of inhuman measures inflicted on their people by the current and past regimes seated in Addis Ababa? Without an iota of doubt the regime in Addis Ababa has committed heinous crimes including genocide against Somalis of Ethiopia.

Satirically, what these subjects fail to realize is that even fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini claimed to have been a democracy one time and that the same applies to Germany under Adolf Hitler. Where on earth is the democracy they are preaching when demonstrations are suppressed and the opposition jailed or killed?

In this era of communication and globalization, it is absolutely impossible for oppressive governments to conceal deliberate inhuman acts from the glare of publicity. The election irregularities that led to the subsequent arrest and extra-judicial killings of opposition figures and university students in the streets of Addis Ababa, the capital city, in 2005, still echo in the minds of Ethiopia's bitterly enraged multi-cultural societies seeking abrupt regime change.

For now, the international community is well aware of the human rights violations being committed by Meles Zenawi's regime in Ethiopia’s Somali-inhabited region and in other parts of Ethiopia, though, to the surprise of the people of the region and their sympathizers, none among the world powers in the forefront for universal suffrage, not even the UN, the world governing body, is willing to see further fragmentation of landlocked Ethiopia since Eritrea's legal divorce in 1991.

This article appeared on www.wardheernews.com