The Impact of Globalization on Somali Culture

Abstract
The impact of globalization is being felt almost everywhere in the world including the “stateless” nation of Somalia whose economy is spiraling at a tremendous pace even with the absence of an effective central government and escalation of war. The purpose of this paper is to examine the positive and negative impacts of globalization on the Somali culture.

What is 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 (12ed), describe globalization as the integration of states, through increasing contact, communication, and trade, to create a common global culture for all humanity.[1] Globalization has been around the world for a long time since the interaction and integration of different societies through international trade and investment.

Somalia: A Brief introduction
Somalia got its independence in 1960 with Aden Abdille Osman as its first head of state. 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. 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 among the 193 nations of the world.[2]

Colonial environment and Somali Language
With the exception of Somali which is the national language, other languages spoken in the country include Arabic, English, and Italian. The Somali peripatetic way of life accelerated economic interdependence 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.

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.[3]

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. In modern times, Somali exposure to foreign ways of life has tremendously altered the previous dividing factors that existed between its various clans. Improved intercommunication due to amalgamation of communal groups alleviated major barriers pertaining to intermarriage. Clans who 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.”[4] 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.

Natural Resources
Somalia is endowed with unexploited mineral resources and vast maritime resources that have been a source of contention since the collapse of the central government in 1991. The absence of a strong and effective central 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.[5] Somalia’s eastern coastline overlooking the Gulf of Aden has become a hotbed for piracy.[6] Oil explorations carried out by Conoco, Amoco, Chevron, and Philips before the military junta fell point to a strong possibility Somalia could contain significant reserves.[7] In modern times Somalia remains a strategically, economically, politically, culturally and religiously sensitive region.

Globalization and Somalia
Somalia’s proximity to the Middle East and North Africa made it a center for commerce in historical antiquity. During that era, Somali sailors and merchants traded in myrrh, frankincense, and spices with ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians, Mycenaeans, and Babylonians.[8] 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 in 1960 when the nation’s leaders adopted democracy as the form of governance for the country. That dream was shuttered by the arrival of a military government in 1969 that changed the nation’s governing style to Leninism-Marxism which ended in 1991 a few years after the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

Preservation of Somali Literature
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.[9] The University of Ohio has included the teaching of Somali into its African studies program.[10] 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.[11]

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 land-line costs $10 which includes unlimited local calls while international calls cost 50 cents a minute. Due to the explosion of internet cafes, web access costs 50 cents per minute. Using a mobile phone in Somalia is “generally cheaper and clearer than a call from anywhere else in Africa”, according to the economist.[12] The nation’s three biggest mobile phone companies, Hormuud Telecom, Nationlink, and Telecom Somalia have 1.8 million customers who enjoy some of the cheapest rates in the world.[13] Currently, Somalia has a varied and vibrant news media including 12 radio stations, and a handful of newspapers mainly written in the Somali language.


Positive Implications of Globalization
The thousands of Somalis who settled outside 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 once beleaguered, impoverished, and war-ravaged nation thus opening 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. 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 to schools or hospitals. The significance of globalization and international political economy has necessitated the transfer of goods and services. Somali businessmen have found it easier 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. 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.
Thanks to the generous contributions of the Somali Diaspora and international organizations currently Somalia has over a dozen universities. When the military junta was in power, Somalia had only one national university. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the break-up of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the collapse of the military junta in Somalia have made it easier for Somalis to turn to the West for educational opportunities. Every year, in the US, EU, Canada, and Australia, hundreds if not thousands of Somali students, graduate from colleges and universities. The thousands of Somalis educated in the West and elsewhere will undoubtedly spearhead the concepts of globalization in Somalia as the years go by without encumbrances.

Islamists and anti-Globalization
The rise of religious militancy in Somalia has set bad precedents and adversely impacted globalization. The two strongest factions opposed to the current Somali Transitional Federal Government have imposed stringent measures on schools funded by the Diaspora by placing a ban on the teaching of English and the Science and they have prohibited the ringing of school bells during school breaks. 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; 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. It is worth noting that Islamists only dominate the southern part of Somalia and that they have no stake in Puntland and Somaliland.

Despite acrimony, fear, and division, Somali culture will immensely benefit from Globalization whenever a stable government emerges from the ashes of destruction. Through the concept of convergence and economic growth, Somalia will eventually catch up with richer countries. Its hale and healthy human population will unlock the mysteries of sustained economic growth. The future of globalization in Somalia depends on Muslim-Somali’s ability to wed western-style modernism with Islamic principles, or, in other words to develop Islamic-style modernism without sacrificing Muslim values.

References
[1] Charles W. Kegley, JR. and Shannon L. Blanton. World Politics: Trend and Transformation (12ed.), Wadsworth, 20 Channel Center Street, Boston, MA 02210
[2] Encyclopedia of the Nations:
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Somalia-POPULATION.html
(accessed 20 April, 2010)
[3] Shire Jama Ahmed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Jama_Ahmed/
(Accessed 23 April, 2010)
[4] Richard F. Burton: First Footsteps in East Africa; Or, an Exploration of Harar. London, Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. 1856
[5] ‘Toxic Waste’ Behind Somali Piracy by Najad Abdullahi, Aljazeera. October 11, 2008. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/10/2008109174223218644.html
(accessed 20 April, 2010)
[6] 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
(Accessed 21 April, 2010)
[7] Natural Resources (Somalia), Natural Resources.
http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Sentinel-Security-Assessment-North-Africa/Natural-resources-Somalia.html
(Accessed 22 April, 2010)
]8] ^ Civilizations: Culture, Ambition, and the Transformation of Nature By Felipe Armesto Fernandez
(Accessed April 20, 2010)
[9] History of Indiana University’s Somali Collection. http://www.indiana.edu/~libsalc/african/Digital_Somali_Library/history.html (Accessed April 24, 2010)
[10] African Studies director honored by Somali president,Youtube.com, www.ohio.edu/outlook/09-10/October/79a.cfm
(Accessed 24 April, 2010)
[11] Mohamed H. Rabi. The Institute of Practical Research and Training: The Role of Somali language in Education http://www.iprt.org/role_of_somali_language_in_educa.htm
(Accessed 29 April, 2010)
[12] Mohamed H. Rabi. The Institute of Practical Research and Training: The Role of Somali language in Education http://www.iprt.org/role_of_somali_language_in_educa.htm
(Accessed 29 April, 2010)
[13] Abdi Sheikh and Ibrahim Mohamed. Somali mobile phone firms thrive despite chaos Reuters. Nov 3, 2009. Retrieved May 1, 2010 from http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE5A20DB20091103
(Accessed May 1, 2010)

Bibliography
Charles W. Kegley, Jr. and Shannon L. Blanton, World Politics: Trend and Transformation (12ed), Wadsworth, 20 Channel Center Street, Boston, MA 02210

Rachel Swarns, “Africa’s Lost Tribe Discovers American Way,” New York Times, 10 March, 2003.

Sir Richard Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa, Tylston and Edwards, The Meccan Press, 3 Soho Square, London, WMDCCCXC1V.

Natural Resources (Somalia), Natural Resources. Retrieved April 22, 2010 from
http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Sentinel-Security-Assessment-North-Africa/Natural-resources-Somalia.html

Helen Kennedy, Piracy big boon to Somalia economy; hotels, restaurants sprout in port of Eyl in pirates' presence, nydailynews, April 9, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2010 from
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/04/10/2009-04-10_piracy_boon_to_somalia_economy.html


Natural Resources (Somalia), Natural Resources. Retrieved April 22, 2010 from
http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Sentinel-Security-Assessment-North-Africa/Natural-resources-Somalia.html

Shire Jama Ahmed. Retrieved April 23, 2010 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Jama_Ahmed/

History of Indiana University’s Somali Collection. Retrieved April 24, 2010 from
http://www.indiana.edu/~libsalc/african/Digital_Somali_Library/history.html


Mohamed H. Rabi. The Institute of Practical Research and Training: The Role of Somali language in Education. Retrieved 29 April, 2010 from
http://www.iprt.org/role_of_somali_language_in_educa.htm

Benjamin Powell, Somalia: Failed State, Economic Success?, Freeman: Ideas on Liberty, April 2009 • Volume: 59 • Issue: 3. Retrieved May 1, 2010 from
http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/somalia-failed-state-economic-success/

The World's Longest and Shortest Wars Revisited

Man has been at war with himself since time immemorial. Some wars have been short; others lasted many, many years. Some wars have been quick and decisive while others continued until the emergence of a conqueror; other wars dragged on for centuries even after the death of the masterminds. Usually, a war may be ignited by flimsy issues like a love affair, competition for scarce resources, and rivalry over leadership, disagreement over ideology or it could be over major issues like retaliatory measures over grievances, religious superiority; it could be a row over diplomacy, forceful annexation of new lands, and territorial expansion. Wars may result from internal turmoil leading to civil disobedience or it could be caused by external aggression. In almost all wars, clever men intervened to reconcile warring parties. Some wars end for good after warring parties opt for an armistice or negotiated settlements.

The longest war in human history erupted during the reign of Alexander the Great III who succeeded the throne after the assassination of his father Philip of Macedon II in 336 BC. Alexander the Great III waged war against Persia between the years 320s and 330s BC. The man who would claim the titles Hegemon of the Hellenic League, Shahanshah of Persia, Pharaoh of Egypt and Lord of Asia died at age 32 in 332 BC after capturing Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, and Bactria. His short-lived reign lasted only 13 years. His ambition of capturing India ended in disarray after his soldiers mutinied prompting him to turn back thus shuttering his dream of capturing Arabia. Alexander’s desire was to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea". Thus, the wars inherited from Alexander the Great left a geopolitical vault that continue to drag on 2,500 years later between the forces of Europe and the Middle East.

In the past, many battles exploded between Europe and the Middle East with North Africa, Spain, France, the Balkans, Palestine, and Asia Minor serving as battlefields. The rise of Islam in the 7th century consolidated and strengthened the forces of Western Asia by significantly Islamizing the Middle East and tipping the poise in support of Mid-Eastern superiority for several centuries. The falling behind of the Arabs and the Turks in economic and military terms in the 19th century enabled the French and the British to impose colonialism on Muslim lands.

Another prolonged war worth mentioning erupted between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly (Dutch: Driehonderdvijfendertigjarige Oorlog) which lasted for three hundred and thirty five years. Strange as it may seem, not a single shot was fired for 335 years making this war the longest war with the fewest casualties. This war ignited during the Second English Civil War between the Royalists and Parliamentarians in 1642 to 1652. It was Oliver Cromwell who pushed the Royalists and secured Cornwall for the parliamentarians in 1648. Under the command of Admiral Robert Blake, the Parliamentarians finally forced the Royalists to surrender in 1651.

Because of the exact dates remaining sketchy, many historians are of the view the Vietnam War was fought against the French for 11 years (1946-1957) and 18 years against the United States (1957-1975). In total, the Vietnam War lasted 30 years. The Korean War was far much shorter than the Vietnam War as it lasted from 1950 to 1953.

Of all wars the world has seen and recorded by historians, World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945) left unforgettable scars in the memory of humanity. Industrialization, abundance of resources, advanced military technology and the mastering of modern tactical warfare by the nations of the western hemisphere, the former U.S.S.R, and Japan culminated in the speeding of aggression that led to the loss of life and property on both sides of the warring parties.

The shortest war recorded in history occurred on 27 October, 1896. Known historically as the Anglo-Zanzibar War, it was fought between the Sultan of Zanzibar and the powerful United Kingdom. This war is said to have lasted 38 minutes and has been documented to have started at 9:02 AM and ending at 9:40 AM-approximately 38 minutes though many disputes exist among historians as to the exact timing of this brutally devastating war that took tremendous life and property.

It all started after the sudden death of Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini who died on the 24th of August, 1896. At this time in history, the British monarchy was pushing for an end to slavery in Zanzibar that was started by Omani Arabs in the 17th century. The British were in favor of Hamud bin Muhammed for the throne because he was a royal cousin of the deceased and because he did not extremely support the advancement of slavery.

However, a hot-blooded nephew of the deceased sultan, a man named Khalid bin Bargash who was an extreme supporter of slavery seized the throne in a coup. At this juncture, the British colonial administration delivered an ultimatum to Bargash ordering him to give up the throne. The big-headed Bargash challenged the British by hurriedly assembling an army of 3,000 men; he ordered the fortification of his newly-usurped Beit el-Ajaib palace or the House of Wonder; he also put into action a hurriedly-created navy in the form of the ex-Sultan’s yacht, HHS Glasgow.

At this juncture, the Royal Navy of Britain, the strongest navy in the world at that time, deployed two warships in the harbor aiming their heavy guns at Bargash’s newly-usurped abode-the Beit el-Ajaib. By now, the Royal Navy had three ultra-modern cruisers in action: the Edgar- class armored cruiser HMS St. George, the pearl class protected cruiser HMS Philomel, and the archer-class cruiser HMS Raccoon and two gunboats, the HMS Thrush and HMS Sparrow.

On the other hand, the British dispatched a landing party under the command of General Lloyd Mathews. By the time the war ended, Bargash’s palace had been razed to the ground, approximately 500 of his poorly-trained soldiers perished, and his navy was obliterated. Bargash sought refuge in the German embassy. Eventually, he escaped to Dar es Salaam in mainland Tanganyika where he was captured by British forces in 1916. Finally, the imposing but trounced Bargash was released by the British. He died in Mombasa, Kenya in 1927.

Whether short or prolonged, in essence, wars are catastrophic in nature for they exacerbate death and destruction and accelerate human suffering. Wars are known to be agonizing for fauna and flora alike and never at anytime nurture living things. Had there been no wars for all the years men have been up to their throats, the shape of the current world would have been habitable.

In the current era of globalization, the prospect of the world experiencing another major war remains slim mainly due to internalization of trade and investment and the interconnectedness of nation-states through mutual cooperation and the observance of internationally-sanctioned organizational commitments which ultimately will put an end to the concept of unilateralism and hegemony experienced in the past.

The current politically motivated wars raging in Afghanistan, Iraq, Darfur, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Somalia will come to an end in the near future. The only wars that will remain mind-boggling to the international community will be the current unsolvable Israeli-Palestinian conflict whose ideals rest on religious and ethnic dividing lines and China's domination of the world's economy 2050 and beyond.

Somalia: Back to pre-Islamic Era of Ignorance

Just today, in Somalia's wretched City of Mogadishu, two remote-controlled bombs simultaneously went-off in the famous Ali Shideye mosque crowded by worshippers killing over 30 people and injuring almost 100 others. The prime target of the bomb was Sheikh Fuad Shongole, a naturalized Swedish citizen and a high profile in al-Shabab's assembly of sheikhs. According to a spokesman for al-Shabab, Sheikh Fuad survived the bombing though he sustained injuries to the hands and other parts of the body. So far no one has claimed responsibility.

Today's bombing of a religious stronghold manned by al-Shabab demonstrates the emergence of a powerful opposition force that is capable of inflicting considerable damage to any future militaristic ambitions by al-Shabab and her allies. Forces opposed to al-Shabab seem to be reinventing their war strategies by coming up with superior tactics that could cause collateral damage to where unleashed.

Of late al-Shabab has been capturing new grounds from AhluSunna Wal-Jama (ASWJ) in the central regions. Al-Shabab's provocative actions prompted ASWJ to join the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). This collective initiative will empower the unified government to marshal a dependable, effective, and loyal force to counter al-Shabab's continued aggression. According to media reports, leaders of ASWJ have been quoted as saying that they will entirely eradicate al-shabab from Somali territorial soil through coordinated efforts. Perhaps, it could turn out to be a dream come true.

Besides al-Shabab, another faction by the name of Hizbul Islam (HI) has its head up in Somalia's mangled politics. HI is headed by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, a former Somali army colonel who fought the government of Ethiopia in his heydays with al-Itihad al-Islami. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and the current president of the TFG, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, under the banner of the Union of Islamic Courts hereafter referred to as UIC, meticulously executed the defeat of the dreaded warlords in 2006. The two buddies parted ways when Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was inaugurated president of the TFG a year ago in a ceremony conducted in Djibouti under the auspices of the international community.

HI is closely allied with al-Shabab in ideology though the two technically remain at war. In the past HI lost large swathes of land in the southern part of the country to the forces of al-Shabab. Recently, Sheikh Hassan Turki, formerly a staunch ally of HI and leader-founder of Muaskar Ras Kiamboni, after thorough negotiations and tough deliberations, switched sides by pledging allegiance to al-Shabab in a well-arranged ceremony. Such is the ideological delicacy and political intricay of the lackadaisical multifarious forces josstling for power in the name of Islam in Somalia.

One other ideological reject is Sheikh Ahmed Madobe who is holed up in Somalia's southern border with Kenya. Rumor has it that Sheikh Ahmed Madobe is a close relative of Sheikh Hassan Turki. What prompted Hassan Turki to abandon his brother when he needed him most will remain shrouded in mystery. In the meantime, Sheikh Ahmed Madobe conducts guerilla raids on villages and towns straddling Somalia's southern border that are predominantly inhabited by his tribesmen but under the control of al-Shabab.

As you can see from the topic above, Somalia is headed for the era of ignorance-the era before the forces of Islam swept the Arabian peninsula. It was an era when women had no discource; children suffered at the hands of their own biological fathers especially girls who were buried alive in the scorching sands of the Arabian desert; tribal wars erupted frequently and the golden rule was "whoever has the gold rules". The hostile tribes of pre-Islamic Arabia committed excesses that included worship of idols, highway robbery, plunder, murder, and a host of crimes equal in enormity to what is happening now in Somalia.

Dear reader, the sanctity of houses of worship have been violated and human life given to the dogs. Can you imagine at the time this ugly incident happened hundreds of people had gathered for the obligatory noon prayers and all of a sudden a deranged person detonates devastating bombs just to seek revenge. Revenge in the House of Allah? To what religion do they belong those who commit such crimes? Can we call them Muslims?

Islam means peace, submission to the will of Allah; it means obedience. When inside a mosque a Muslim is supposed to submit wholeheartedly to Allah with sincere devotion and forget the allure of this world. A Muslim is the one who observes the divine laws stated in the Qur'an and the Hadith. Furthermore, according to Islamic teachings, the punsihment for killing an innocent person in the hereafter is to dwell in hell forever.

Somalia has been without a central government since 1991 when the ironfisted military government paved way for clan warfare, warlordism, and anarchy. The succession of administrations in the name of Transitional Federal Government never had complete control of the country except being holed-up in Villa Somalia-the delapidated presidential place.

It is a clear fact that war can only be declared by the head of a sovereign state and not by criminals forcefully imposing unjustified laws in a lawless country. The current transitional president, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, because of his unending adventure travels, remains a president in name only otherwise he is a president-in- absentia.

Unless someone claims responsibility, it will be absolutely hard to uncover the perpetrators of today's bloodshed. To this day, last year's unsolved despicable crime that cut short the lives of a dozen graduating doctors remains a mystery. A government that controls a few blocks in a city of a million people whose survival is at stake must not be expected to avail a comprehensive and conclusive forensic report now and in the future because it is already showing signs of imminent departure from the political spectrum.

Decline of Violence in Iraq

Formerly Mesopotamia or the “Land between two Rivers”, the current modern state of Iraq is situated in the Middle East. It is bordered by Syria to the West, Turkey to the North, Iran to the East, Kuwait to the South-east, Saudi Arabia to the South, and Jordan to the South-west. The country descended into anarchy and insurgency when the former President of the United States, George W. Bush, ordered a U.S.-led invasion in 2003 under the pretext of destroying Saddam Hussein’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Iraq has been under the dictatorship of the Baath Party from 1979 until the subsequent capture of Saddam Hussein in 2003 by U.S. troops. This article looks at what led to the reduction of violence in Iraq in 2008.(1)

Misconceived Notions about Iraq
Once considered a homogeneous Arab Nation and a beacon of peace and stability, the nation-state of Iraq, has, since 2003 (with the exception of 2008), transformed into a safe haven for hard-line insurgents and turned out to be a nation composed of various social structures or social strata each with its unique culture. To north are the Kurds who consider themselves to be non-Arabs with their own distinct history and culture. Among the Arabs there are two Arab societies: the Shiites in the South and the Sunnis who populate the middle of the country and who had a bigger stake in the running of the country during the reign of Saddam Hussein. The terms Sunnis and Shiites refer to different religious sects within the Islamic faith. Despite contrasting views among U.S. citizens, according to popular opinion, the “troop surge” implemented during the presidency of George W. Bush is reputedly thought of as being behind the drop in violence in Iraq since 2008 even though there is no way to prove or measure such claims.

The Evolution of a new Political State
Pioneered by the United States, her allies, and the coalition of the willing, the evolution of the current Iraqi state with its multiple political parties came to the fore after the subsequent departure of Saddam Hussein and his Baath party elites from the political spectrum. Likewise, the creation of new democratic institutions of governance and the restoration of freedom and liberty to the Iraqi populace, the formation of northern Kurdish prefectures and the taming of the Peshmerga(2), and the curtailment or defeat of the predominantly Shia Mahdi Brigade, shepherded the progression of a new Iraqi state. It was Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal who is credited with finding and capturing Saddam Hussein and with tracking and killing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born leader of Al-Qaida in Mesopotamia. Only 20% of the 479 districts of Baghdad known as Mahallas were free of organized crime before a year-long operation by the U.S. military and Iraqi security forces (ISF) brought safety to the capital and improved the situation. According to Brig. Gen. Mike Milano, a top U.S. military official tasked with restoring security to Baghdad, nearly 80% of the capital's districts became free of organized extremist activity. The most comprehensive report on the decline of violence in 2008 appeared in the July issue of the Weekly Standard in which the author, Kimberley Kagan, attributes political maturity to be the cause of the partial cessation of hostilities for that period. The establishment of many political parties along tribal lines laid down the groundwork for stable, nonsectarian, and at least cross-sectarian politics.

Decline in Violence
Many may wonder why Iraq got immersed in a sudden sagging political quagmire immediately Saddam Hussein was removed from the helm and why there was a semblance of peace in 2008.The countless spates of reprisals seen in Baghdad before the surge were caused by the bitter hatred that existed between the Sunnis who had a stake in the running of the Iraqi government during Saddam’s 24-year reign of terror and the Shias who profoundly felt marginalized. The bombing of the golden Shia mosque on February 22nd, 2006 culminated in the launching of attacks that resulted in retaliation by Shias against Sunnis. After stabilizing the chaotic situation in Iraq, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the man who came to be the progenitor of what came to be known as the Petraeus Doctrine, turned over the reins of power to Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, in October of 2007.

Professor David Siddhartha Patel of the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University, commenting on the insurgency in Iraq, had to say this: “The fighting in Iraq really isn’t motivated by Islam. It’s really motivated by politics; it’s about economics; it’s about money. And that divide between Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds that we hear so much about … that doesn’t really capture what’s going on. Just as much, the violence is within groups as between groups”. Consequently, the following factors could be attributed to the decline of the insurgency:
 The weakening of Al-Qaida and the collapse of tribal coalitions;
 Sunni Arab parliamentarians' acceptance of the Iraqi constitution;
 Coalition forces’ defeat of Iranian-supported “special groups” and the engaging of Muqtada Sadr’s Mahdi Army/Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM);
 The establishment of tribal “Awakening Councils” and the formation of Concerned Local Citizen (CLC) groups to fight Al-Qaida in Iraq;
 Coalition forces’ collaboration with the civilian population led to torrents of fresh intelligence that culminated in the containment of hostile forces;
 The intensification of military operations against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq by Turkey and Iran;
 The diminished flow of foreign fighters from Syria and Iran led to reduced suicide bombings, IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), and EFPs (Explosively Formed Projectiles/Penetrators);
 The training of a more effective Iraqi Security Force (ISF);
 The transformation of the coalition forces from an army of occupation to an army of collaboration.

Conclusion: Though there is no way of measuring the causes of the decline in violence in Iraq in 2008, on the other hand, the escalation of retributions, hostility, and tribal hegemony diminished because the warring parties became exhausted and wary of war after much damage was done to both sides of the isle. The famous saying among Arabs that states “me and my brother against my cousin; me, my brother, and my cousin against the world”, seems to have been the driving force behind the complex divisions, mistrust, and negative cultural attitudes that resulted in the dragging of Iraq into the senseless cycle of abyss that left thousands dead and an equal number unaccounted for.

Sources
(1)Charles W.L. Hill, Global Business Today, McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY, 10020 (pp. 91-92)
(2)Peshmerga is the name of the Kurdish guerilla army.
(3)Stanley A.McChrystal:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/stanley_a_mcchrystal/index.html?inline=nyt-per
(4)U.S. reports violence decline in Iraq, 2-23-2008: Read more http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2008-02-23-saturday_N.htm
(5)The Future of Iraq: The decline of violence, the rise of politics by Kimberly Kagan, July 28, 2008, Vol. 13, No. 43:
(6)http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/345jfuan.asp?page=3
(7)United States Condemns Bombing of Important Shia Mosque in Iraq:
Read more: http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2006/February/20060222110625cpataruk0.9421808.html#ixzz0kj9pg5hN
(8)Gates Notes Shift in Mission as Iraq Command Changes Hands by Jim Garamone of the American Forces Press Service: CAMP SPEICHER, Iraq, Sept. 15, 2008 http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=51170
(9)Professor Discusses causes of Iraqi insurgency by Ian Wells, November 2, 2007. http://cornellsun.com/node/25728
(10)John T. Rourke, Taking Sides: Clashing Views in World Politics (14 ed.), The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

The Controversial Song

Saado Cali Warsame, a veteran Somali female musician has just released a song called Libdhi Meysid Laas Caano in the Somali tongue which translates to "thou shalt not vanish Las Anod". The song has become so controversial that it caused unnecessary uproar and friction among Somalis. The town of Laas Caanod is claimed by the unrecognized northern breakway republic of Somaliland which formerly was part of the British colonial administration before the formation of what became known as the Somali Democratic Republic. The southern part of Somalia was under Italian colonial administration in pre-independence Somalia. The unification of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland gave rise to modern Somalia in 1960. The inhabitants of these two unified regions share a common culture, religion, and language.

Laas Caanod is predominantly inhabited by the Dhulbahante sub-clan of the Darod clan. The autonomous region of Puntland is also claiming ownership of Laas Caanood because the Dhulbahante are related in blood to the Majertein sub-clan who are also Darod. Some high profiles from this disputed town serve in the Somaliland administration in Hargeisa while others serve in Garowe which is the capital of the Puntland administartaion. Saado Cali, the vocalist who sang the song for the disputed town is a Dhulbahante. She feels compelled to defend her town from the Somaliland administration that is struggling politically and diplomatically to secede from Southern Somalia. The fact is that Saado is expressing her views which seem to have angered others who dispute with her way of thinking. But who wrote the song in the first place? Emerging reports indicate that fingers are being pointed at a prominent poet and he has categorically and outrightly rejected the wild allegations being directed at him in the strongest terms.

The wars raging in southern Somalia seem to be accelerating without any break. Opposing sides are never short of willing fighters and sucide bombers. Any day blood is not spilled is a bad day for the fighters. At the time of writing this piece, the City of Mogadishu has been under seige because of heavy fighting between government forces and Ahlu-Sunna on one side and al-Shabab on the other. Somalis have been opposing each other in all aspects in every avenue. Leaders of Somalia have refused to give peace a change. Everyday, an unaccounted number of Somalis perish in useless wars perpetrated by merciless hooligans fighting over territory or over positions of power. Having fought many battles for almost twenty years in the south, Some disgruntled elements feel it is the right time to take verbal wars in the form of music way up north before the start of the real armaggedon.

Al-Shabaab Bans Music, BBC Broadcasts

Always expect the worst form of treatment from African leaders whenever they feel threatened. Southern Somalia's powerful Islamist groups have once again imposed stringent measures on the locals they govern: no more playing music by local radios and a shut down of the BBC transmissions. And that is exactly what the Tigre regime in Addis Ababa did to VOA broadcasts in Amharic for fear of raising political tensions as the elections approach. Strange as it may sound, another ban has been slapped on schools this time warning headmasters (principals)and school teachers to refrain from ringing bells at anytime. The islamists contend that bell-ringing is a Christian culture which has no place in Islamic Somalia.

Leaders of southern Somalia's religious movements who are eying to topple the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Mogadishu prefer banging of walls, desks, and clapping of hands as replacement for bell ringing. In the southern town of Afmadu controlled by Islamists, the teaching of English and Science have been terminated forthwith. We will leave these contentious and burning issues for Islamic scholars to debate on.

In this era of globalization where the world has transformed into a global village due to interconnectedness brought about by interaction and integration, one cannot understand how any nation can survive in the absence of international trade and investment. With the rapid rise of India and China as global economic powers, even mighty United States and her European allies are rewriting their school curricula so as to accommodate science, medicine, and engineering. While it is not a bad idea for the Jihadists to resuscitate, reinvent, and revitalize vital subjects that have long been abandoned, I find it laughable when science, which hardly contradicts Islamic teachings, is deemed unacceptable in the schools that fall under their domains. In the next few decades, a nation's survival will be determined by how far it has excelled in the sciences.

Islamist leaders have become masters at digging the skeletal remains of revered persons. There are even reports of these master-gravediggers mixing the skeletal remains of Somali shaikhs with those of persons of unknown religious following. These actions are meant to confuse the followers of the revered persons from identifying the exact human remains of their saints. At times they unearth the remains of non-Muslim religious symbols in the glare of the media. From what I know, people don't worship the saints or the graves that hold them, but that they are paying homage to their beloved departed souls.

While Islamists carry out desecration of graves, the government that is supposed to protect the people from harassment remains powerless, toothless, ineffective, and cowering behind the artillery and tanks of AMISOM-the African Union Peacekeeping Force in Mogadishu. According to observers of Somalia affairs and general politics, the current president of the TFG has become the world's most widely-traveled leader.
Undoubtedly, Shaikh Sharif's government has enough troops to counter the daily provocations from the heavily-armed opposition.

Lack of reliable military hardware, defective leadership compounded by corruption, and embezzlement of funds are the major obstacles crippling the current government. A fulfilling promise can only be warranted when the TFG and the opposition engage in a final onslaught so that whoever wins the battle emerges the final undisputed winner who will steer Somalia for many years to come.

Mogadishu Braces for Clash of Titans

Southern Somalia’s militant giant al-Shabab, the only leading force that is still wielding considerable political, social, and economic clout and the most formidable force that remains an obstacle to Sheikh Sheriff’s otiose and corrupt administration, has taken one further attempt to overrun Galgadud region currently controlled by ASWJ-the Sufi-led faction that just finalized an agreement with the TFG. Despite beating the drums of war loudly and pronouncing a declaration of war against al-Shabab and despite the TFG mobilizing its forces for a final onslaught, al-Shabab is seemingly emerging a force to reckon with. Its marvelous application of covert and overt battle operations, its ability to mobilize forces, its meticulous garnering of public support through the use of diplomacy, radio and cyberspace communication, its adroitness at manipulating tribal elders, and its meritorious skill of tendering support to minority clans for the sake of weakening and deracinating powerful tribes that pose threat to its survival, and its undaunted will to survive unparalleled hardships and challenges remain tools yet to be discovered by its avowed enemies inside Somalia’s murky political waters.

Al-Shabab has even become skillful at controlling international aid agencies operating in the areas under its control by requiring them to abide by stringent laid out rules and regulations otherwise they risk being kicked out of the country. The recent altercation between the World Food Program (WFP) and al-Shabab where WFP ultimately pulled out of southern Somalia revolved around al-Shabab’s demand that WFP buy local Somali farmers produce instead of bringing in expired relief supplies to the country and distributing as a humanitarian gesture to an already famished and displaced war-afflicted persons.

Al-Shabab’s refusal to allow WFP run its relief operations has led to massive starvation of residents of ceelasha biyaha and opened a new round of hostilities with a select group of council of elders supported by the hierarchy of Hizb al-Islam who feel al-Shabab is imposing sanctions on their tribal enclaves where majority of their kinsmen or followers reside. The enclave in question-ceelasha biyaha as it is called or the water wells-is roughly a few miles to the north of the town of Afgoi-where the largest concentration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) who escaped the shelling in Mogadishu resides.

So far the said council of elders has issued a decree denouncing the actions of al-Shabab and to that effect are convening an assembly that include the top echelons of Hizb al-Islam who will collectively deliberate on the most effective countermeasures to take. Sooner or later a deadly clash of titans could be expected should al-Shabab continue to stubbornly deny the said IDPs access to WFP’s relief supplies.

Ironically, many Somalis, presidential observers, and political analysts are bewildered and dumbfounded at President Sharif’s peripatetic itinerary. His travel plans bring into play a passion for endless merrymaking and craving for leisure travel, red carpet receptions and deafening twenty-one gun salutes, all-you-can-eat buffets set around intricately and articulately designed manicured lawns, and accommodation at five-star hotels with continental breakfast to share with an inflated procrastinating entourage lacking guided protocols and principles.

To make matters worse, the absence of accountability and national security and the absconding of duty by those who took the oath of allegiance to the constitution have made the current Transitional Federal Government headed by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed wallow in pathetic corruption and remain absorbed in indeterminate situation.

Shocking revelations of embezzlement and mismanagement of donor funds, political bickering and the higgledy-piggledy nature of its bloated parliament, the exodus of highly-priced, newly-trained, and tribally-inclined troops switching allegiance then joining jihadi camps, and the tiptoeing of the colony of political chameleons hiding in its midst seem not to be signaling its ultimate salvation but its timely and imminent death.

What Advantage is there for Rwanda to Switch from French to English?

The landlocked nation of Rwanda is located in Central Africa and is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Massachusetts or is half the size of Scotland. To the north, it is bordered by Uganda, to the south by Burundi, to the east by Tanzania, and to the west it is partially separated from the Democratic Republic of Congo by the Ruzizi Valley and Lake Kivu. This tiny nation of over 8-million inhabitants came into the international limelight during the 1994 genocide where approximately a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in a span of 100-days thus going down in history as the worst ever documented intertribal genocide. Rwanda, the most densely populated country in Sub-Saharan Africa, has often been described as the “Land of Thousand Hills” by geographers and visitors alike. It has a rich history and culture and prides to have had mysterious kingdoms with legendary military force before European powers set foot in Africa. Formerly a Belgian colony, Rwanda is now saying farewell to the French Language in favor of English which has become the lingua franca of Sub-Saharan Africa. The Government of Rwanda claims that English has become the backbone for growth and development not only in the region but around the globe and that French is spoken only in France, some parts of West Africa, and in some parts of Canada and Switzerland.

Like its neighbor Burundi, Rwanda has had a long history of intertribal conflict beginning in the late 18th century when European powers convened in Berlin, Germany in 1884 under the auspices of King Leopold II of Belgium who originated what came to be known as the “Scramble for Africa” or the “Race for Africa” leading to the partitioning of the mighty continent of Africa along colonial powers Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Germany. Formerly what used to be Ruanda-Urundi was mandated to Belgium in 1923 by the League of Nations (now The United Nations). This conference eliminated all the existing forms of self-governance and autonomy previously practiced by Africans. Inspired by explorer Henry M. Stanley’s book, Through the Dark Continent (1878), the Berlin Conference attendees found reason to exploit the human and natural resources of the African continent while at the same time establishing a prolonged imperial legacy that would benefit future generations of European expansionist enthusiasts. The splicing up of Africa among European imperialists took-off immediately after the abolition of the horrendous trans-Atlantic slave trade commencing in 15th century and culminating in the eventual industrialization of Europe and North America.

After World War II, Ruanda-Urundi became a Trust Territory of the United Nations controlled by Belgium. Rwanda and Burundi simultaneously proclaimed independence from Belgium on July 1, 1962. Prior to independence, Belgian administrators running the colony favored the tall Tutsis who had European-like features (as the Belgians claimed) over the short Hutus by giving the Tutsis administrative and military positions. In order to exploit the social structure that existed, the Belgians supported the Tutsi Mwami (king) and even introduced ethnic identity cards so as to divide-and-rule the two ethnic groups. Colonial anthropologists argued that the taller Tutsis were “Black Europeans”. The Hutus are regarded as the ethnic majority of Rwanda while Tutsis are considered in racialist ideology, a foreign race as opposed to indigenous race. It was Jean Hiernaux of the French National Center for Scientific Research, who, in late 1974, noted a 10 centimeter difference between the Tutsi (taller) and Hutu (shorter).

Racialist ideologists went as far as concluding that the civilization seen in Africa before the spread of European colonialism originated from an external Caucasian race but black in color-in what came to be known as “Hamitic Theory”. Thus, the origin of the outsider civilizing Hamitic race is placed in the Horn of Africa. These racialist ideologists were stimulated by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, the eugenics movement, and racism. Belief in the superiority of the white European race over the dark African race proliferated ethnocentrism to an extent Germany embarked on what became known as realpolitik where global dominance or influence of a larger scale was only attainable through increase in power and wealth.

Walter Rodney, in his 1972 book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, repudiated Colonial European ethnic division of Rwanda natives by suggesting that the tall stature of the Tutsis is a result of pastoralist protein-rich diet. He further shed light by claiming that the short Twa (forest people) possess pygmoid features simply because they are hunters/gatherers by occupation and that they lack essential nutrients in their diets. For the Hutus who are shorter than the Tutsis but taller than the Twa, Walter Rodney argued that, because they are agriculturalists, they have relatively poor food available for body building.

The land once described as a “tropical Switzerland in the heart of Africa”, Rwanda came to symbolize the killing fields of Cambodia when an inexperienced Hutu president ascended the throne upon proclamation of independence from Belgium in 1962. In order to impose law and order and ensure their “civilizing missions” materialized, colonial powers vested some authority on churches of their choosing. Church figureheads in turn proselytized, trained, and elevated subservient, approachable, and courageous ethnic groups they felt would relay the expansionist colonialist torches as commanded while observing standard operating procedures (SOPS).

On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying Juvénal Habyarimana, President of Rwanda, and Cyprien Ntaryamira, President of Burundi, was brought down by a missile while flying over Kigali International Airport, the capital of Rwanda, killing everyone on board including the two presidents who had just returned from a reconciliation conference in the city of Arusha in Tanzania. From 1973 until his death in 1994, Juvénal Habyarimana favored his Hutu tribe over the minority Tutsis. Former president of the United States, Bill Clinton, on an official tour of Africa, had this chilling message for the people of Rwanda upon landing at Kigali International Airport in 1998: "We come here today partly in recognition of the fact that we in the United States and the world community did not do as much as we could have and should have done to try to limit what occurred". [1] The former Canadian general Roméo Dallaire overseeing the United Nations peace keeping operations at the time of the genocide wrote in one his books the following the lines: "Rwanda will never ever leave me. It's in the pores of my body. My soul is in those hills, my spirit is with the spirits of all those people who were slaughtered and killed that I know of, and many that I didn't know.” [2]

Rwanda and Burundi became member states of the East African Community (EAC) in 2007. Formerly, the EAC comprised of the former British colonies Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania that are English-speaking. 80% of Rwanda’s population speaks Kinyarwanda. The implementation of laissez-faire economies, a common customs and excise tax system, unrestricted airspace, common parliament, unhindered borders and free movement of people and goods across borders, and the creation of a common monetary unit (shilling), EAC member states will eventually benefit without depending much on foreign handouts.

Rwanda has introduced a cricket board mimicking the British system. The game was brought to Rwanda by its Diaspora returning mainly from Kenya where the game is common. Rwanda will be the second country after Mozambique (Portuguese speaking)-that has not been colonized by Britain-to join the Commonwealth. Queen Elizabeth II of England is the ceremonial head of the Commonwealth which incorporates fifty-four member states. Rwanda was admitted as a member of the Commonwealth of Nations in November, 2009. It has also been a Member of the United Nations since 18 September, 1962. Ambassador Joseph Nsengimana is Rwanda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. The leaders of Rwanda have embraced the idea of joining various clubs so as to relinquish Rwanda’s dependence on colonial master France that has been implicated in the 1994 genocide that decimated roughly 20% of the nation’s human population.

Despite the devastating genocide and the preceding political, social, and economic hardships inherited from imperialism, colonialism, and European exploitation, no wonder at present “…Rwanda has the highest number of women parliamentarians in the world with women constituting 48.8% in the Chamber of Deputies and 34.6% in the Senate. The Government of Rwanda also has 34% of women in its Cabinet.” [3]

In 2008, the Government of Rwanda announced that English would become the language of instruction in schools replacing French. On a visit to Rwanda on Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy admitted that France had made “grave errors” in the 1994 genocide. [4] For now relations between France and Rwanda seem to be thawing. Upon President Nicolas Sarkozy returning to France, the French government detained Agathe Habyarimana for crimes related to the 1994 genocide. She is the widow of former President Juvénal Habyarimana who died in a plane crash in 1994. “Her arrest follows a visit to the Rwandan capital Kigali last week by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, when he admitted that France - and the wider international community - had make "mistakes" over the genocide.” [5]

Upon taking the reins of power in 1994, Paul Kagame, the current leader of Rwanda exhausted all avenues until he was forced to use coercive power to subdue the masterminds of the genocide by pursuing them into the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo by dispatching contingents of the Rwanda Armed Forces. As a gesture of goodwill and reciprocity, Rwanda’s head of state extended amnesty to some his rivals to overcome enduring rivalries. He called on Rwandans to show restraint and embark on disarmament so as to overcome enduring internal rivalries.

Rwanda underwent decentralization initiatives on January 1, 2006. Up to 2001, the country was divided into twelve regions formerly known as prefectures. The twelve prefectures have been reduced to five regions: North Province, East Province, West Province, South Province, and Kigali Province. Such decentralization techniques are meant to empower the common citizen to collectively participate in nation-building efforts so as to attain self-sufficiency and modernization.

Since the leaders of Rwanda are responsible for steering the nation to its right course and that they fully understand what is good for Rwanda as a sovereign nation, there is absolutely nothing wrong with switching from French to English as the language of instruction for the schools of Rwanda. The recent visit by the President of the France to Rwanda signals the restoration of the lost relations beween the two countries. For the citizens of Rwanda, learning a new language (English) should be an added advantage politically, socially, and economically.

Cited Sources
http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9803/25/clinton.africa/
pbs.org/.../frontline/shows/ghosts/interviews/dallaire.html
http://www.undp.org.rw/Newsroom_story8.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/world/europe/26france.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8545120.stm

Médecins Sans Frontières

Founded in 1971 by a group of French journalists and doctors after the Biafra War (1967-70) that devastated the West African nation of Nigeria, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has evolved as an internationally recognized humanitarian aid organization that provides emergency medical assistance to populations in danger in more than 70 countries.[1] It works with people threatened by aggression, neglect or calamity, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, undernourishment, and exclusion from healthcare or natural disasters.

Initially, MSF came to fore after the incorporation of Groupe d'Intervention Médicale et Chirurgicale en Urgence ("Emergency Medical and Surgical Intervention Group") that meticulously provided aid in Biafra in 1970 and the Secours Médical Français ("French Medical Relief") that responded to the Bhola Cyclone of 1970 which took the lives of almost 500,000 people in the former East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).[2] MSF was founded on the basis that all people have the right to medical care regardless of race, religion, creed, or political affiliation. It works to remain nonaligned, is imperturbable, and free of bureaucratic restrictions.

The principles of MSF are outlined in the Charter and the Chantilly Principles together with La Mancha Agreement. [3][4] In France it is known by its French name Médecins Sans Frontières or simply by the contraction MSF while in the United States, Canada, and Australia it is widely known as Doctors Without Borders. The operational decisions of MSF are made by largely independent centers located in Paris (France), Geneva (Switzerland), Brussels (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), and Amsterdam (Holland). The international office responsible for overseeing international activities is located in Geneva, Switzerland.

The current President of MSF is Dr. Christophe Fournier.[5] Dr. Christophe Fournier graduated from the University of Clermont-Ferrand in France where he received his Doctorate in Medicine. Besides, he holds a degree in Epidemiology, Tropical Medicine, and Biostatistics. He previously worked as a doctor or was head of mission in Burundi, Uganda, Honduras, and Chile and as well conducted emergency exploratory missions in Mexico and Venezuela. In 2000, he became MSF's Operations Manager in the United States while at the same time managing field programs in Guatemala, Haiti, Nigeria, Sudan, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand.

Like the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), World Vision, Oxfam, ActionAid International, and other international organizations scattered all over the world, the presence of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) or Doctors Without Borders is visible almost everywhere where human conflict and natural disasters exist. The national offices of MSF are solely responsible for the recruitment and coordination of volunteers. The organization was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1999 "in recognition of the organization’s pioneering humanitarian work on several continents."[6] It was Dr. James Orbinski , president of MSF at that time, who accepted the prize on behalf of his organization. Besides the Nobel Prize, MSF was awarded the Seoul Peace Prize in 1996.[7]

Teams of medical experts conduct evaluations on the ground to determine a population's medical needs before opening programs. Experts also carry out epidemiological surveys to determine the effect of a disease on a population. For example, MSF measures mortality rates by observing burial rates in a community. By working in concert with governments, cases like genocide, human casualties, and exodus of civilians can be computed by using surveys. Astonishingly, Doctors Without Borders has at times courageously and independently delivered medical assistance to some parts of the world without consulting or working with civilian or military authorities. Because of its commitment to impartiality, Doctors Without Borders remains independent of governments and is a reliable partner in the delivery of humanitarian supplies where others dare not. During the Rwanda Genocide of 1994, together with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Doctors Without Borders withdrew from camps inside Rwanda to avoid complicity as the camps were used as military sanctuary by the genocidal militia that was behind the massacre of a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus (Pease, 274).

The earliest recorded humanitarian relief operations by MSF was in 1972 when the city of Managua in Nicaragua experienced a devastating earthquake that killed between 10,000 and 30,000 people and razed most of the city’s infrastructure. After Hurricane Fifi inundated the nation of Honduras on September 18 and 19 in 1974, leaving behind massive flooding in its wake, MSF established its first long-term medical relief mission in the country. The fall of South Vietnam to North Vietnam and the subsequent exodus of Cambodians fleeing the ruthless Khmer Rouge saw MSF establish the first refugee camp missions in Thailand. The withdrawal of Vietnam from Cambodia in 1989 necessitated the formation of MSF’s long-term operations meant to resuscitate Cambodia’s dilapidated health care system and also provide care to the survivors of the mass killings.

Arguably, MSF’s first encounter with turbulence would be when the brutal civil war of Lebanon broke out in 1976 while its mission was providing surgical procedures in Lebanon’s major city hospitals thus establishing reputation for nonaligned status and eagerness to work under hostile fire. After caring for Christian and Muslim religious groups in the midst of a long and arduous war that dragged on for almost a decade, rampant attacks on its personnel and the deteriorating security situation in Lebanon finally forced MSF to shut down its operations in 1984.

For the first time in its history, the organization has been able to make a breakthrough in the mapping of the “Meningitis Belt” in sub-Saharan Africa which typically happens between the months of December and June. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of Meningitis in the world. Psychological programs track down massacres, kidnappings, rapes, and killings so that security can be enforced by the government-of-the-day. In 2004, MSF conducted a wide-ranging mortality survey in Darfur, Sudan.

MSF has been actively involved in the elimination of diseases caused by lack of proper nutrition. The organization has a marvelous practice of setting up Therapeutic Feeding Centers for victims of marasmus who show signs of severe emaciation and weakened immune systems.[8] The same applies for patients of kwashiorkor who are known to appear physically and mentally retarded. Both diseases cause malnutrition leading to fatal opportunistic infections if not treated right away. Drought, war, and mismanagement of economies by corrupt governments may be attributed to be the major causes of marasmus and kwashiorkor in patients.

Sub-Saharan Africa has been grossly affected by myriads of diseases caused by lack of healthy and sufficient nutritional foods because totalitarian and callous good-for-nothing regimes and ridiculous pseudo-democracies headed by leaders who are outrageously brigands in outlook have surreptitiously retarded the development of agricultural technology and scientific technology leaving areas in their control to be prone to contagious diseases.

Often, children are the most vulnerable in situations where basic necessities are nonexistent. To resuscitate such famished patients, MSF has introduced two phases of treatments: Phase 1 and Phase 2. In Phase 1, F-75, therapeutic milk with low energy, low fat/protein powder mixed with water is given to patients to transition them to Phase 2. In Phase 2, F-100, also a type of therapeutic milk but containing more energy/fat/protein content along with peanut butter mixture called plumpy’nut is served to patients. Enriched flour, porridge, and PB5-which is a high protein biscuit-are used for treating populations. In situations where dehydration and diarrhea remain widespread, MSF administers Oral Re-hydration Salts (ORS) as replacement for lost body fluids since ORS contain glucose and electrolytes. For cases showing signs of diarrhea coupled with dysentery and cholera, the application of antibiotics best serve to bring about complete convalescence.

Since water is necessary for hygiene, MSF water experts ensure there is enough water for human consumption-water that is free from sedimentation. Depending on the availability of resources, engineers may build water storage facilities or dig water wells that are free from water-borne diseases. Where applicable, these experts employ chlorination or filtration techniques to contain the spread of water-borne diseases spread by pathogenic microorganisms like bacteria, protozoa, and viruses-many of which are intestinal parasites. MSF water engineers train local medical staff in the fields of simple waste-water treatment by applying physical, chemical, and biological processes. This is done in order to reduce the effects of waste on the health, environment, or aesthetics. Also, volunteers and local medical staff learn proper waste disposal, personal hygiene, and garbage disposal and treatment techniques from MSF engineers.

Nations most afflicted by war and natural disasters seem to benefit the most from the free services provided by MSF. In Africa, countries that have been once afflicted by war or are on the road to recovery such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda, Congo, and many others in Sub-Saharan Africa remain the major beneficiaries of the services provided by this internationally renowned organization whose services know no boundaries. Regardless of whether it is an outbreak of a pandemic or an epidemic, MSF continues to serve the needy afflicted by the most debilitating outbreak of diseases. Whether it is Ebola, Bubonic Plague, cholera, sleeping sickness, polio, Marburg Fever, or Tuberculosis, the forces of MSF continue to intermingle with the most vulnerable and the most wretched of the earth including refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) without regard to race, color, creed, gender, sex and political and religious affiliation.

Besides the funds provided by donor nations, MSF has to its credit millions of voluntary donors and volunteer workers who dedicate their money, time, and efforts solely for the preservation of human dignity and sanctity of human lives. Those who wish to see the survival and well-being of MSF are not drawn only from the nationals of founding member-states but from the combined citizens of the Global North and Global South whose philanthropic endeavors revolve around the continuation of a collective global effort for the betterment of humanity’s overall existence. In 1982, Malhuret and Rony Brauman who would become the organization’s president the same year introduced fund raising by mail leading to financial independence and increased the speedy establishment of new centers worldwide.

The organization remains in the forefront in its fight against contagious diseases in many parts of the world especially in developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Concerted efforts in the collective vaccination of populations against diseases like diphtheria, meningitis, measles, tetanus, pertussis, yellow fever, tetanus, polio, and cholera remain top priority for MSF’s field missions. The bulk of MSF volunteer employees who include physicians, surgeons, nurses, and others with specialized trainings in various fields usually have considerable knowledge as regards the management and containment of tropical and epidemiological diseases. In Africa where HIV/AIDS is wrecking havoc to entire populations due to shortage of medications and the absence of sex education, MSF is playing a leading role in the provision of the much-needed and extremely expensive antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) needed by patients to boost their weak body immune systems.

In Central America, especially in the nation of Nicaragua, MSF is providing public education awareness seminars aimed at curbing the spread of venereal disease and other types of reproductive infections. In areas devastated by civil wars, natural disasters, or endemic diseases, MSF psychologists or psychiatrists provide considerable support to affected communities. In addition, the organization plays central role in alleviating stress in victims confounded by depression, domestic violence, and substance abuse. At times qualified MSF personnel may train local mental health staff to fill the void.

Often, MSF keeps a watchful eye on all forms of injustices or violations committed against defenseless populations by states and armed resistance groups by issuing rejoinders, press releases, and communiqués in the strongest language so as to attract the attention of the international community. By voicing its concerns, MSF is signaling warring parties to show self-control so that remedial measures can be implemented to avoid a repeat of past risky actions not only for the present but for posterity. “MSF reserves the right to speak out to bring attention to neglected crises, to challenge inadequacies or abuse of the aid system, and to advocate for improved medical treatments and protocols.”[9] The latest MSF press release appeared on January 26, 2010 in which the organization strongly condemned the forceful evacuation of 7,000 displaced persons from Munda (Lower Dir, North West Frontier Province) by Pakistani armed personnel.

In some regions of the world where the rule of law is either shaky or preposterously outlandish, some nongovernmental organizations might find their humanitarian efforts hampered by states and other religiously-inclined fanatics and MSF is no exception. The prospects of dispensing humanitarian supplies to the disadvantaged millions living in countries like Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and other beleaguered, impoverished, and war-ravaged nations, at times remain absolutely discombobulating for MSF’s compassionate commitments.

Despite its hard work and dedication and its unreserved service to the cause of humanity, MSF employees have not been immune from the absurdities of political instability and civil wars. Constant intimidation by armed groups, kidnappings for the sake of ransom and attacks on volunteers for political reasons, and unjustifiable arrests and abductions of volunteers and international workers cause disillusionment in the dissemination of humanitarian services to the neediest. The War on Terrorism has generated profound mistrust for MSF by nationals whose countries remain under U.S. occupation and the end result leads to apprehension and abrupt evacuation of MSF personal and hasty abandonment of humanitarian activities. The organization evacuated its personnel from Afghanistan’s Badghis region after five of its employees were killed in an ambush near Khair Khana by unidentified gunmen in July of 2004.[10] The victims were identified as Afghans Fasil Ahmad and Besmillah, Belgian Hélène de Beir, Norwegian Egil Tynæs, and Dutchman Willem Kwint. In June 2007, a MSF-France volunteer was killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo while in January 2008, two expatriate volunteers and one national staff member were killed in Somalia resulting in the closure of the project.[11]

The number of non-governmental organizations calling themselves “without borders” is seemingly growing out of proportion. They include Lawyers Without Borders, Farmers Without Borders, Architecture Sans Frontières, Bikers Without Borders, MBAs Without Borders, Pharmacists Without Borders, Librarians Without Borders, and Reporters Without Borders just to mention a few. Despite superficial psychology of imitation and phony proliferation of names identical to that of MSF in the global arena, it is only Doctors Without Borders or MSF that has the potential to ensure the ball rolls when it comes to the delivery of humanitarian services worldwide without the least hesitations.

Sources
www.msf.org
http://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/clubs-and-societies/a-to-z/f/friends-of-msf/history.html?Pcs=com.othermedia.imperial.model.ClubSocietyHandle-L-318
http://www.msf.org.uk/about_charter.aspx
http://www.msf.dk/OmMSF/Hvemervi/LaMancha-aftalen/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9decins_Sans_Fronti%C3%A8res
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/1999.html
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1999/msf-lecture.html
http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=38EE4ACD-E76C-419D-8888955E03EF9E13&method=full_html
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/aboutus/
http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=pressrelease&objectid=8851DF09-F62D-47D4-A8D3EB1E876A1E0D&method=full_html
http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?objectid=D45AE41F-15C5-F00A-25FA38BD021FCE9A&component=toolkit.pressrelease&method=full_html

The Torchbearers of the Seeds of Doom

All aspects of the beautiful life created by Allah meant to nourish and nurture all living things have been turned into catastrophic phenomena by a group of presumptuous and lame-brained men who possess insufficient, unpersuasive, or substandard principles and judgments. The exceptional, authentic, and original religion of Islam has been deliberately infused with irrational and innovative practices and beliefs that are tantamount to hypocrisy. In the absence of law and order, those who depend on these types of avaricious misfits preaching hatred and distorted ideologies, become victims of misrule or turn sadistic and vainglorious in the long run.

The torchbearers of these seeds of doom may be identified by how they behave towards their subjects for they portray the tendency to kill, maim, or dislocate every living thing and rape innocent unarmed women and girls. They continue to annihilate innumerable innocent mothers so as to inherit and indoctrinate their children and bring them into their fold. The same children will be transformed into armies of irritated and unforgiving suicide bombers, mine-layers, assassins, gunners, and poorly-trained riflemen who kill by impulse at any given time leaving death and destruction in their wake. To these children and their psychotic leaders, everyone else except them, is branded kaffir (disbeliever).

Superficial religious misinterpretations spearheaded by shallow-minded religious fanatics in regions like Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan have been the cause of incivility and intolerance leading to unprecedented internal strife, terrorism, and piracy. The aftermath of these religious squabbles open numerous doors for mass exodus of refugees, proliferation of weapons and arms smuggling, impoverishment, water shortages, sewage breakdown, prostitution, disease, cross-border raids, armed banditry, poaching, desertization due to environmental degradation, internally displaced persons (IDPs), homelessness, brain-drain, infrastructural decay, economic stagnation, and statelessness.

Somalia remained a stable governable state from the time it attained independence in 1960 until the collapse of the central government in 1991 when all of a sudden it transformed into a ludicrously unsteady, ungovernable, and ultimately a failed state altogether. The nation’s insalubrious political arena catapulted to greater heights immediately after the military junta fell apart. The rise of tribal hegemony and the craving for territorial expansion led to the escalation of irredentist mentality. Entire communities were forcefully disbanded from their original locations and made to live in squalid conditions while new arrivals rejoiced at the newly-grabbed lands and homes.

The rise of cold-blooded, desultory, ignominious, and gluttonous warlords who emerged after the demise of General Aidid brought about an era of prolonged national self-destruction. The defeat of the warlords in 2006 by the Union of Islamic Courts (ICU), the coronation of Abdullahi Yusuf as president of the Somali transitional federal government and the subsequent defeat of the ICU by Ethiopia’s occupation forces laid ground for the explosion of religious extremism and malevolent ideological fragmentation along clan lines.

Above all, Al-Ittihad Al-Islam, a religious group that has thus far ceased to exist after being routed by Ethiopia’s mechanized army, was the precursor of all religious fomentation in the early part of the 90s. Remnants of Al-Ittihad leaders conscientiously and clandestinely pilfered into various religious assemblages with the crucial aim of carrying out onslaughts against the formation of every conceivable and internationally recognized legitimate Somali transitional government with ideological and political leanings toward Ethiopia, Kenya, and the West.

Referred to as jihadists in contemporary global politics, Somalia’s religious movements have become internationalized, institutionalized, and politicized as they have made great strides in subscribing to the global jihadist consortium waging wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, and other hotspots interconnected by globalization and cyberspace communication. The rise of Hizb-Islam, Al-shabab, and Ahlu-Sunna Waljama’a (ASWJ) all developed after the collapse of the ICU and for the most part after the departure of Ethiopian occupation army from Somali soil. With the exception of ASWJ, the former two embody strict religious traditions never before experienced by the people of Somalia.

The presence of African Union peacekeeping troops (AMISOM) from Burundi and Uganda has further aggravated the security situation in the country. Al-shabab and Hizb-Islam’s daily altercations with AMISOM troops make life unbearable for the few remaining residents of Mogadishu. Heavy shelling by AMISOM troops stationed in the presidential palace, Mogadishu harbor, and the international airport has resulted in uncountable civilian deaths and casualties. The stable autonomous province of Puntland and the unrecognized breakaway region of Somaliland have not been immune from extremist attacks either. The death toll from suicide bombings and assassination of political and religious figures continue to grow exponentially. Unless Somalis unite on a dynamic common political ground and rally behind an acceptable religious path, the current horrendous state of affairs resembling vestiges of Calvinism will prevail. Allah forbid.

Contemporary International Relations

The era when nations viewed each other as enemies is over as all have been replaced by the emergence of transnational actors leading to genuine transformation in world politics. Mutual misperceptions that fueled discord and rivalry and the mirror image phenomenon during the Cold War have been replaced by mutual understandings. Global cooperation among nation-states have brought about integrative trends leading to increased trade and communication where they individually and collectively strive to overcome disintegration trends like weapons proliferation, terrorism, environmental degradation, and genocide.

The Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan which was signed in Washington, DC, on January 19, 1960 is a prime example of transnational cooperation. Another important agreement is the 1972 Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT I) between U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. It was an Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and an Interim Agreement on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. Most importantly, the collapse of the U.S.S.R. paved way for major global cooperation on many international levels. The creation of the United Nations in 1945 after the failed League of Nations (which the U.S. never joined) and the formation of Amnesty International in 1961 have opened a path for joint international cooperation on issues pertaining to facilitation of international law, international security, social progress, human rights, economic development, and the observance of global peaceful coexistence.

The emergence of multilateralism where nations work in concert for a certain cause has become a global preference as opposed to unilateralism where nations act individualistically without seeking cooperation.

The Realist Theory states that “states are the most important in world politics and that states are sovereign, and because there is no higher power, world politics is a ceaseless struggle for world politics.” Less concerned with ideals, social reconstruction or ethics, realists mainly focus on national interests and security. In the Realist Theory, special attention is given to great powers whereas NGOs, multinational corporations, and individuals receive less credence in the international arena. The Realist Theory is mainly based on the abhorrence of cooperation or alliance, amassing of resources, relations based on military and economic capabilities, and the use of pragmatic approaches to solve problems.

Despite coming to fore on the eve of World War II, the writings of Thucydides, Machiavelli, and Hobbes have played a great role in the history of Realist Theory. The failure of realists in defining the importance of power and national interest and their failure to account for new trends in world politics make them less reliable in the international arena. To Thomas Hobbes, the English philosopher who wrote Leviathan, international politics is about “a war of all against all”.
On the other hand, there is the Liberal Theory which “emphasizes reason, progress, ethics, and mutual gains.” Liberals value the importance of free trade for the prevention of unnecessary conflicts; they give significance to international institutions to solve conflicts, and prefer the use of legal procedures to overcome conflicts before they escalate. Liberalism is the most accepted view in the world today. Adam Locke is considered the father of liberal thought. Though realism and liberalism each have “comparative advantage in explaining certain kinds of international events”, none seem to be perfect as viewed from international theory and global future.

In principle 3 of economics, we learn that rational people think at the margin. Given the available opportunities, rational people systematically and purposefully do the best they can to achieve their objectives. At the international affairs level, the President of the United States has greater responsibility in foreign policy more than any other president because as a nation, the U.S. remains the sole super power after the demise of the former Soviet Union.

America’s military superiority over other nations in deterring belligerence anywhere in the world always gave every U.S. president the leverage to act unilaterally as happened in the invasion of Panama in 1989 when President George H. Bush was in office leading to the subsequent capture, transfer, and imprisonment of General Noriega in U.S. soil. Despite some nations within the international community viewing this unilateral act by the U.S. as irrational and a flagrant violation of international law, to the President of the United States and his loyal bureaucrats, interest groups, and supporters, it was an act undertaken to preserve America’s interests abroad.

The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Thomas R. Pickering, cited Article 51 of the U.N. Charter as sufficient grounds for the invasion. Perhaps, General Noriega rebelled against the mighty U.S. because of his preconceived notion that Panama had nothing to lose in the war with the U.S. The type of government that existed in Panama at the time of the invasion was less restrained by domestic factors. The economic factor that mattered most to General Noriega was that he was a drug trafficker while at the same time being on the payroll of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. For the economic factor, it was in the interest of the U.S. to ensure the smooth running of the Panama Canal.

At the individual level the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austro-Hungary and the rise of Adolf Hitler sparked World War I. The rise of hegemons seeking world dominance culminated in the start of WWI. On the state level, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire and the creation of new states and the evolvement of nationalism-a mindset that glorifies particular states came to the fore. At the global level, the League of Nations was created. Colonialism, multipolarity that lead to domino effect, and imperialism which implied expanding state power through conquest as experienced by Japan and Germany surfaced during these brutal wars.

On the persistent underdevelopment of the Global South, I find modernization theorists’ arguments to be more convincing. The “Global South’s own internal characteristics, including managerial inefficiency, lack of modern technology, and inadequate transportation and communication infrastructures” are the major factors behind the suffering and underdevelopment visible to this day.

Insecurity, corruption, embezzlement of state coffers, the absence of allocation of resources, retarded technology, poor governance, lack of political pluralism, and disparities between the rich and the poor are to blame for the suffering seen in the Global South. The notion that the absence of division of labor between the industrialized core and the underdeveloped periphery is the cause of the Global South’s underdevelopment seems to be out of context.

Many people believe Multinational Corporations (MNCs) can provide significant financial infrastructure for trade and industry and social improvement in developing countries as long as MNCs abide by the ethical standards and guidelines for operating in developing countries. However, others believe these institutions exploit the hardships encountered by developing nations. There are those who believe that most of the negative perceptions about MNCs are anecdotal rather than empirical.

There have been several documented cases of environmental degradations by MNCs as happened in Liberia a few years ago where Firestone was found to have created extensive environmental degradation and to have allowed its local employees live in squalid conditions. As long as MNCs abide by the internationally recognized environmental standards management set forth by ISO 14000, there shouldn’t be any problem for MNCs operating from far a field in developing countries.

The emergence of the World Wide Web has had adverse effects on the cultural and social well-being of some cultures notably Singapore and China where there have been outcries from many sectors of society. The negative effect of the internet on Chinese society has prompted the Chinese government to impose censorship on some URLs. Besides, pro-democracy advocates claim that the internet is playing a great role in the dissemination of democracy in politically retarded Asian nations. But there are those who cite the effects of pornography and other obscenities as harbingers of social degradations and other cultural absurdities.

A few Multinational Corporations have been involved in politics as happened in Chile when ITT attempted to block Salvador Allende of Chile from seeking the presidency. One major problem MNCs pose in foreign soils besides political, environmental, cultural, social, and traditional degradations is the effect of monopoly they have on the people and nations they have business dealings with. MNCs have been accused of exploiting the cheap labor of poor nations.

Another negative argument by some writers or scholars is that MNCs drastically changes the infrastructure of host countries and at the same time alter the culture and tradition of the locals they encounter. Besides the cultural and environmental erosion created by these foreign-based international institutions, a global effort can be effected to put a cap on further degradation of cultures, traditions, and the environment not only for the present but for posterity.

The world Trade Organization (WTO) was superseded by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) founded in 1947. The purpose of the World Trade Organization in the international arena is to liberalize international trade or in other words the regulation of trade between member states. Its central pillar is the multilateral trading system which is in regard to disputes settlements. Critics contend that the rich get richer and the poor poorer in what they refer to as convergence and divergence.

The World Bank (WB) was formerly established for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II ended. However, the bank’s working strategy changed to that of economic development once reconstruction was finalized. Generally, the bank is there to serve and protect the interests of the great powers. With the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Assistance (IDA), the World Bank gives loans and grants to countries that have no access to international credit markets. Some critics argue that the World Bank harms southern nations; some perceive it as practicing what they call “NGO imperialism”. Despite having 186 members, the World Bank is run by a few economically powerful countries whose interests dominate the bank composition and management; it has been blamed for running policies that are both practical and political in structure.

Founded in July 1944 in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire with originally 45 members, the purpose of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as an international organization is to keep an eye on the global financial system with the goal of stabilizing exchange rates and the modernization of the international payment system. The IMF provides loans to poor countries; it helps in surveillance and monitors economic and financial progress of nations that borrow from it; it provides statistics, research and technical assistance where applicable and is there to fight money-laundering and terrorism related activities in its spheres of influence global wise. As contended by critics, it is the conditions on the loans dished out by the IMF that make democratization and privatization a hurdle for member states.

Terrorism has changed dramatically since it has become more global in nature, more fatal; it is waged by civilians who rely on military technology to advance their aims and objectives. The use of the internet has enhanced their communication strategies; borders have become easier for them to encroach without being detected.

Good News for Peace-loving Somalis

The recent signing of a peace agreement between the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) and the Sufi-led faction hereafter referred to as Ahlu Sunna Wal-Jamaa is a step forward and should be commended by all peace-loving Somalis and their friends in the international community. Sufism, a branch of Islamic school of thought, is a theological thinking that seeks closeness to the Almighy Creator through meditation and hymmimg.

For many years, Somalia's sufis have been known to have been peaceful in their pursuit of their religious practices until the emrgence of various religious factions uncluding the likes of Al-shabab and Hizbul Islam who imposed alien ideologies on the peaceful ASWJ followers in Somalia's central regions.

The sharing of power between the TFG and the ASWJ where ASWJ will have powerful ministerial posts in the current government headed by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed will create a powerful force that will eventually be a clog in the eyes of Al-shabab and Hizbul Islam.

The announcement by the leaders of ASWJ that they will pacify the country in as little as six-months and ensure all antagonists are annihilated should be a warning sign to those opposed to the combined forces of the TFG and ASWJ.