The Collapse of Somalia and Economic Considerations Essay -- Essays P

The Collapse of Somalia and Economic ConsiderationsBy African standards, Somalia is a undiversified state made up of a single ethnicity, religion and culture. This lead to a relatively peaceful history until Somalia was colonized by the British, French, and Italians in the nineteenth century. However, Somalias single ethnicity is broken into different clans, and sub-clans and this regions lack of natural resources led to a fracturing of society, violence, and eventually civil war at the stop over of the 20th century. Despite the deterioration of society and state throughout the 70s and 80s informal black-markets (referred to as the shadow economy) formed to provide goods and operate to the masses living(a) under a government incapable of providing anything. This shadow economy thrived throughout the 1980s for minority elites able to participate in its transactions. Even though on that point was no government after President Siad Barre was deposed in 1991, the shadow economy o f the 1970s and 80s was already in place, and though it didnt necessarily distribute goods and services equitably, it did create markets and opportunities for Somalis in the 1990s. This essay will look at how (1) colonialism and the Cold War created a relationship of Somali dependence on foreign instigate (2) the vulnerability of Somalias undiversified economy (3) domestic economic policy failures and land-grabbing by elites (4) the failure of IMF-World bank structural adjustment programs. The combination of these events, coupled with famine, led to fighting between warlords and the collapse of state. Finally, this essay will analyze how the process of Somalias decline necessitated the establishment of a shadow economy that continued to flourish despite the absence of s... ...omalia_body.html___________________ Besteman, Catherine, Unraveling Somalia Race, Violence, and the Legacy of Slavery (Philadelphia University of Penslyvania Press, 1999)Besteman, Catherine a nd Lee V. Cassanelli, The Struggle for Land in Southern Somalia The War Behind the War (London Haan Publishing, 1996)Chazen, Naomi and Donald Rothchild, The Political Repercussions of Economic Malaise, in Hemmed In Responses to Africas Economic Decline, by Thomas M. Callaghy and John Ravenhill, editors. Columbia International Affairs Online http//www.ciaonet.org/book/callagy/chap5.htmlHashim, Alice Bettis, The Fallen State Dissonance, Dictatorship and Death in Somalia (New York University Press of America, Inc., 1997)Samatar, Ahmed I., The Somali Challenge From Catastrophe to Renewal? (Boulder, CO Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1994)