Ethnic Conflict of Somalia Ben Walters and Olivia Toles

Somalia On Maps

Conflict Overview The conflict is over the autonomy of the land, because Somalia is separated into four major clans, seamed together by their connection to the land which is fought over. Displaced persons in Somalia due to clan warfare.

Outside Influences ●The United States, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somali people in other nations, International Relief Organizations, and Islamic Militias are all major outside influences on Somalian civil war. ●The United States has had a military presence in Somalia since 1992 that has been attempting to stop the Islamic Militarists and to protect food shipments from relief organizations. ●Eritrea supports the Islamic Militarists and Ethiopia is against them. ●International Relief organizations are trying to bring food to drought stricken Somalia. ●Islamic Militias are trying to take control of the country. ●Somalis in other nations, either refugees or citizens with a Somali ethnicity, have often affected government decisions in Somalia. A picture of US troops stationed in Somalia that influenced the Somali war.

Cultural Conflict ● The conflict in Somalia is largely based on a fight over the land. ● An overwhelming amount of Somalis are Sunni Muslims, meaning that the conflict does not include a fight over religion. Most citizens also speak Somali, so there is not much of a language barrier. ● Each independent clan is a different ethnic group. ● After the fall of a dictatorship, the independent states were established by clans to control a certain space of land for themselves. ● The clans have declared independent states, which has created warfare between each other over land. A picture of refugees forced from Somalia into Kenya due to warfare.

Timeline ●The United Republic of Somalia was freed from colonial rule in 1960, but it was a combination of Italian ruled and British ruled colonies, as well as multiple different clans, causing governing issues. ●The Dictator Barre was overthrown in 1991, and Civil War between the four clans began soon after. ●In 1993 The U.S. with the permission of the UN entered Somalia with a peacekeeping force. ●In 1994 after several costly battles between the U.S. and Somalia, U.S. citizen’s public outcries caused the U.S. to leave Somalia while it was still unstable. ●Between 2004 and 2006 Islamist Militias took control of much of Somalia, and skirmishes with the U.S. began once more. Dictator Siad Barre

Five Themes of Geography Reflection MOVEMENT- A lack of movement in Somalia has created sedentary states controlled by opposing clans. REGION- The different independent states of Somalia could be considered different regions based on their individual ethnic identification and what nationality they define themselves as. HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION- Due to a nutrition deficit during the Civil War in Somalia, the Red Cross endorsed fishing as a good way to improve the peoples diet, and because of this they began to over fish to a fatal amount. A picture of frozen tuna in a market showing Somali over fishing.

Possible solutions to the conflict 1.The break up of Somalia into several different independent countries each ruled homogeneously by one clan. This is the most likely solution to the problem, since each clan has already claimed independence and territory, and each has held its territory and independence for at least a decade. 2. One Clan/Coalition of clans manages to suppress the other clans and gain complete control of all of Somalia, preserving it as a whole nation. If an outside nation or some twist of fate gives one of these clans an overwhelming advantage, it could end with that clan conquering the others and turning Somalia into a single nation again. This is less likely than solution one, as it would have to be a very strong advantage to allow one clan to conquer the others, and chances are that the clan that receives this bonus will only try and retain its independence instead of reuniting Somalia. Depends on the clan.

Video About U.S. Involvement in the Somali Civil War This video is called “Black Hawk Down: Panic In Mogadishu” which was the U.S. operation where two U.S. helicopters were shot down in Somalia. This was the operation that forced the U.S. to leave Somalia due to the public outburst against the needless deaths. Video:

Viewer Questions 1.What year did the Somali Civil war begin? What event triggered it? 2.What are two possible problems of each hypothesis? 3.If the clans of Somalia never existed, and they were united as one independent nation, what do you think the biggest conflict would then be in Somalia currently? 4.What was the biggest cultural conflict of Somalia? 5.How many Americans were killed in Black Hawk Down?

Bibliography en.wikipedia.org Endless war: A brief history of the Somali conflict. (n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2015, from article/endless-war-brief-history-somali-conflicthttp:// article/endless-war-brief-history-somali-conflict Political and Historical Context. (n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2015, from ORION-ME Somalia REw8J8iS9Ru5Mb-5jG0hC-1BXYHrJ-RgTZHB533TJPCOs_P- EoHW95rkoXMVawLb7bIIr8KNZp85Moum2qWtO8XFCzHIK8KwWWYRmfA7Z5EiKCYvusex2uuwHkyM84j3phXfflLc0WBqCMEyz vSLTxZktZt3koy29qCMru7e4ugPO8U-tCx8A REw8J8iS9Ru5Mb-5jG0hC-1BXYHrJ-RgTZHB533TJPCOs_P- EoHW95rkoXMVawLb7bIIr8KNZp85Moum2qWtO8XFCzHIK8KwWWYRmfA7Z5EiKCYvusex2uuwHkyM84j3phXfflLc0WBqCMEyz vSLTxZktZt3koy29qCMru7e4ugPO8U-tCx8A Rubenstein, J. (2005). The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Refugee Council USA - Displaced Persons from Somalia. (n.d.). Retrieved February 5, 2015, from persons-from-somaliahttp:// persons-from-somalia Somalia: Refugees in Kenya Call for More Effective Aid Delivery. (n.d.). Retrieved February 5, 2015, from Environmental effects of warfare. (n.d.). Retrieved February 5, 2015, from war.htm#Africahttp:// war.htm#Africa Somalia's piracy and global overfishing. (2011, January 26). Retrieved February 5, 2015, from

Bibliography cont. Thread: Classify Somalia's ex-dictator Siad Barre. (n.d.). Retrieved February 5, 2015, from Somali Soldiers. (n.d.). Retrieved February 5, 2015, from Black Hawk Down: Panic in Mogadishu. (n.d.). Retrieved from mogadishu#the-true-story-of-blackhawk-down