Al-Shabaab, the nationally focused terrorist group in Somalia, formally joined forces with Al-Qaeda today. The Somali government, however, considers this a non-story; ties have always existed between the two organisations. Furthermore, many are not worried by the new partnership because both groups involved have been declining in size and public support.
Despite their decline, that doesn’t mean they have been completely defeated, and events in Somalia and neighbouring regions are still relevant to western nations. On February 23, the UK will be hosting a conference aiming to “deliver a new international approach to Somalia”, as mentioned this column. The columnist, a Somalian, however is concerned with the colonialist mindset of many of the nations involved in the conference. He points out that Somalis weren’t even consulted before its announcement.
It’s important that western nations try to overcome this colonialist mindset and ensure that the decisions they make about this country’s future are ones that look out for the interests of Somalis as well as their own, or else Somalis will have no reason to go along with these decisions. In his column, Mr. Dirshe states that Western powers want to keep Somalia in a weakened state so that it is left subservient to the West and that they are empowering Somalia’s neighbours, Ethiopia and Kenya, who are actively working to destabilize the country.
However valid these statements might be, they represent why Somali nationalist sentiment can’t be ignored. Al-Shabaab, in fact, began as a movement to counter invading Ethiopian troops. If Somalis feel left out of the decision-making process for their future, they may turn to extreme nationalist groups, like Al-Shabaab.
On the other hand, we may not need to be too afraid of this result. A major blow to Al-Qaeda has been the Arab Spring, which has shown that local populations are turning away from extremism. Somalis aren’t Arabs, but it’s possible that the same sentiment might reach into their country.
Western powers should therefore keep their colonialist tendencies in check and make sure that they are working in the interest of the people for whom they are making decisions, not just because it’s the just thing to do, but also because of the serious consequences when they don’t.
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Tags: Africa, Al-Qaeda, Al-shabaab, Arab Spring, ethiopian troops, nationalist groups, nationalist sentiment, somali government, Somalia, somalis, undefined
