Somalia, Relations With

SOMALIA, RELATIONS WITH

SOMALIA, RELATIONS WITH. Somalia, in northeastern Africa, attracted American attention for the first time in the 1970s when the military dictatorship of Mohammed Siad Barre solicited military aid from the Soviet Union. In 1980 he switched sides and allied with the United States, which also poured in military aid. As the Cold War ended, Somalia lost its attraction as an ally. Barre's ouster in 1991 allowed clan rivalries, which his dictatorial rule had held in check, to erupt into civil war. The war and severe drought destroyed Somalia's economy.

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In response to televised scenes of starving children, the United Nations in December 1992 introduced troops from several nations, under the command of the United States, to see that international relief aid reached the Somalian people. This food mission initially succeeded, but when its commanders also tried to settle the civil war, troops were caught in a chaotic situation. Thirty U.S. soldiers lost their lives in the course of the conflict, the worst incident being an October 1993 army ranger raid in which eighteen U.S. soldiers were killed and their bodies paraded through the streets of Mogadishu, the capital city. After more than two years and $2 billion, the UN operation left Somalia with no government or administration and controlled by heavily armed rival clans.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Clarke, Walter, and Jeffrey Herbst, eds. Learning from Somalia: The Lessons of Armed Humanitarian Intervention. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1997.

R. L. Watson / a. g.

See also Africa, Relations with .