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This latest update from the London Conference comes as bittersweet news for this broken nation. Large portions of Somali territory are controlled by other nations or factions while the transitional government struggles to gain full control of it’s country. Rather than having an elite group influence a situation for the better, I would say much the opposite, they are doing everything possible to stay neutral and have no influence. This support for Somalia is completely counterfeit since the international community has acknowledged that group of militants, the Al-Shabab who openly made an alliance with Al-Qaeda are still not worth committing military resources. If Al-Qaeda was working with militants in any western world nation would there be calls for military action? Probably. But not here, Hilary Clinton even said that “there was no case for that kind of action”. Why is Somalia not worth committing more resources? Does this situation in Somalia reinforce the idea that countries will only commit serious resources if there is a economic benefit for them? It seems that for such strong words this group of elite leaders is lacking resolve. Previous international interventions such as Iraq and Libya had vast resources at stake. If Somalia had large oil and petroleum deposits, would we see a different story here? Its difficult to believe that there would be no intervention. The US most notably seems to fight for freedom and human rights whenever it seems convenient for them, but when they do not wish to get involved, than a nations sovereignty should not be metalled with. Even though this conference had 50 plus nations, I bring up the US specifically since many countries seem to follow suit with their decisions, they have immense influence on the decisions of other countries. Whether it be the IMF, the World Bank or NATO, the US seems to have most influence on everyone, so it is no wonder that the agreement at the London conference was less than abysmal. It appears that the only people interested in resolving this issue is Africans themselves, committing 12000 troops to the cause with support from surrounding states. Hopefully the international community will soon realize that their lack of initiative to influence change and commit serious resources to nations in desperate need will only serve the status quo. This peaceful rhetoric by international leaders clearly shows where western powers ideals lay by carefully picking and choosing which conflicts to engage in.
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