Prisoners of geography?
diversions within Africa, specifically within Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, than their physical geography.
While the actions of humans within Somalia and the DRChave, as already established, been responsible for socioeconomic issues and political tensions, it could be argued that the physical geography of the regions has been, and will continue to be, the motive for those human actions. For example, as previously mentioned, the DRC’s ‘resource curse’ encouraged neighbouring countries to invade and plunder resources. 16 Indeed, the DRC is bordered by 9 countries (the fourth most of any nation), meaning that peace is almost impossible to maintain, for there is always some form of political or resource-based conflict occurring. This was exemplified in 1994 when, following the genocide of the Tutsi ethnic group in neighbouring Rwanda, the surviving Tutsis forced the Hutu militia group (the aggressors of the genocide) to flee into neighbouring DRC, where they joined forces with the Congo’s army and conducted border raids on Tutsis in Rwanda. This boarder skirmish eventually drew continental attention and the armies of other bordering African countries, such as Uganda and Eritrea, invaded the DRC and overthrew the Hutu-supporting DRC government, going on to control much of the country’s natural wealth, with Rwanda plundering tons of coltan to be used in their manufacturing industry. 17 It is ambiguous as to whether this conflict would have escalated if the DRC was not so resource rich. Overall, this conflict shows how African warfare does not just occur because of competing ethnic groups and struggles for power, but also because of problems with physical borders and desires for natural resources, s uggesting the DRC are ‘prisoners of geography’. Similarly, one of Somalia’s largest ever conflicts, the Ogaden War of 1977, (which, as mentioned previously, could be seen as the long-term trigger for the devastating Somali Civil War) was over a piece of land. In 1977 Somali forces, under the control of President Barre, invaded the Ethiopia in order to gain control of the 200,000km 2 region of Ogaden, most likely to expand both their physical and political influence over eastern Africa. 18 Somalia’s eventual defeat in this conflict, as a result of heavy communist support for Ethiopian forces, can be seen as the beginning of domestic opposition to the dictatorship of President Barre within Somalia, ultimately resulting in his exile in 1991 and the beginning of the Somali Civil War. Therefore, the Ogaden War reveals how ethnopolitical issues (the civil war and Somalia’s ‘statelessness’) can be created by physical geography (the influen tial region of Ogaden). In conclusion, while the actions of humans have definitely created socio-political issues within the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia – most notably their colonial history and the lawless power vacuums created following independence resulting in civil conflict, this problem being exacerbated by the presence of religious fundamentalists – it is the physical geography that is the main cause of these countries’ problems. Not only d oes physical geography directly create problems such as the drought and famine within Somalia, but can also indirectly cause conflict, such as the DRC’s immense resource wealth encouraging foreign invasion, or the constant border conflicts over influential pieces of land causing larger- scale war in the future. Somalia and the DRC are most definitely ‘prisoners of geography’.
16 Oakes (note 2). 17 Marshall (note 3). 18 Fergusson (note 1).
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