Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Somalia and Africa: Lack of Policy
As an earlier post suggested, we are unable to adequately respond to the Darfur tragedy partly because of the squandering of our resources on Middle East adventures. But a recent Op-Ed by a Somali woman reminded me once again of how much larger the problem is than Darfur. As she points out, Somalia is no longer a country. Abandoned by the outside world, the area that was once Somalia is controlled, when controlled at all, by a maze of warring groups. If they have the courage, anyone can come and go at will. Kenyans, Ethiopians, Americans and others come in for short stays for their own purposes, but are soon gone. Public education is extinct. The only education is Islamic and in Arabic, which of course is not actually their language. Everybody's property has been taken, so there is no longer any incentive for normal economic activity. One wonders how we can hope to rid the world of Islamic terrorism when this future Taliban Afghanistan festers in East Africa.
We are reminded of the larger dimensions of the problem by a review of Theroux's latest book, "Black Star Safari" by Dan Blatt at his excellent web site: Futurecasts. Theroux records a trip he recently took down the only trans-Africa road, Cairo to Cape Town. It is a dismal record of extreme poverty, failed aid programs, and hopelessly corrupt and noncaring governments. A student of Africa for forty years, Theroux sees most of the continent steady going backwards. We have known this for a long time now. Once hopeful exceptions such as Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe have recently been added to the sorry list. Congo is a running sore that will not heal. To say African countries need more democracy is hardly sufficient (Uganda with less is much more promising than Kenya with more).
What the situation cries out for is an international consortium that would devise a plan to make over Africa. This would require the commitment of large sums of men and materiel. It would require massive interference in internal affairs. The demands of the consortium would be rejected by most governments. But perhaps not all. If the consortium could get an agreement from local parties and the United Nations to take over the direction of one country and succeeded in that, it might be able to move on to others. One thinks of Somalia as a country that the world might agree to have managed in this way. But getting local agreement there would be difficult.
This may be a wrong-headed or simply impossible approach, but the usual political, economic, or financial palliatives are not working. Theroux would have us stop aiding these countries; he believes foreign aid simply makes the rich richer and the rest beggars. But his approach is also hardly a panacea.
Without responsible governments, the continent will become a haven for the worst of people and the worst of diseases. It is remarkable that in our election season neither candidate has much to say about Africa. But whoever is elected, it must be high on next year's agenda.
As an earlier post suggested, we are unable to adequately respond to the Darfur tragedy partly because of the squandering of our resources on Middle East adventures. But a recent Op-Ed by a Somali woman reminded me once again of how much larger the problem is than Darfur. As she points out, Somalia is no longer a country. Abandoned by the outside world, the area that was once Somalia is controlled, when controlled at all, by a maze of warring groups. If they have the courage, anyone can come and go at will. Kenyans, Ethiopians, Americans and others come in for short stays for their own purposes, but are soon gone. Public education is extinct. The only education is Islamic and in Arabic, which of course is not actually their language. Everybody's property has been taken, so there is no longer any incentive for normal economic activity. One wonders how we can hope to rid the world of Islamic terrorism when this future Taliban Afghanistan festers in East Africa.
We are reminded of the larger dimensions of the problem by a review of Theroux's latest book, "Black Star Safari" by Dan Blatt at his excellent web site: Futurecasts. Theroux records a trip he recently took down the only trans-Africa road, Cairo to Cape Town. It is a dismal record of extreme poverty, failed aid programs, and hopelessly corrupt and noncaring governments. A student of Africa for forty years, Theroux sees most of the continent steady going backwards. We have known this for a long time now. Once hopeful exceptions such as Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe have recently been added to the sorry list. Congo is a running sore that will not heal. To say African countries need more democracy is hardly sufficient (Uganda with less is much more promising than Kenya with more).
What the situation cries out for is an international consortium that would devise a plan to make over Africa. This would require the commitment of large sums of men and materiel. It would require massive interference in internal affairs. The demands of the consortium would be rejected by most governments. But perhaps not all. If the consortium could get an agreement from local parties and the United Nations to take over the direction of one country and succeeded in that, it might be able to move on to others. One thinks of Somalia as a country that the world might agree to have managed in this way. But getting local agreement there would be difficult.
This may be a wrong-headed or simply impossible approach, but the usual political, economic, or financial palliatives are not working. Theroux would have us stop aiding these countries; he believes foreign aid simply makes the rich richer and the rest beggars. But his approach is also hardly a panacea.
Without responsible governments, the continent will become a haven for the worst of people and the worst of diseases. It is remarkable that in our election season neither candidate has much to say about Africa. But whoever is elected, it must be high on next year's agenda.
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