Week 14: Post your Blog Entries as Comments to my Main Post Each Week

Post by Sunday at midnight

[3 posts for my capstone posts of the course;

one on Somalia and its ongoing traps as an object lesson;

one review of Korea and other Asian/Middle Eastern countries in a "new imperial scramble for Africa" for agricultural plantations;

one about martial law for the Philippines, a true bottom billion country in many of Colliers' traps]

[1]

1. Mark Whitaker

2. And the conflict trap continues in Somalia

3. Somalia is on its 14th 'transitional government' and 3 members of its Cabiet were recently assassinated, despite being guarded by Collier's dream solution of an African Union of troops as a neutral third party. Other of Collier's usual suspects are here: [1] endemic regional violence (sometimes justified by a 'religious group' (that is actually quite contrary to Somali culture in what it wants to kill people for as an excuse), [2] groups already armed that justify themselves on larger religious goals instead of self-oriented regional ones, [3] multi-country neutral regional militaries, [4] model transitional governments, [5] regional warlords that refuse to talk to the 'model transitional government, [6] funding and fighters from outside the country coming in, instead of it being only a domestic squabble. [7] ongoing lack of economic security and thus without any development prospects, homogeneous or heterogeneous.

One of Collier's solutions--the regional military authority as a neutral force--is what is being attacked by the regional warlords BECAUSE it is a 'foreign force'--sort of something Collier anticipated though anticipated that 'rebels' would always lose. I'm unsure about Somalia. Still, an interesting concept in this all-African regional military for supporting transitional governments:

"African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) is an active, regional peacekeeping mission operated by the African Union with the approval of the United Nations. AMISOM is mandated to support transitional governmental structures, implement a national security plan, train the Somali security forces, and to assist in creating a secure environment for the delivery of humanitarian aid. It was created by the African Union's Peace and Security Council on 19 January 2007 with an initial six month mandate. On 21 February 2007 the United Nations Security Council approved the mission's mandate. Subsequent six-monthly renewals of AMISOM's mandate by the African Union Peace and Security Council have also been authorised..."

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Suicide bomber [it is assumed, there is little evidence left...] kills three Somali cabinet ministers

At least 19 people, including three journalists, have died in blast at graduation ceremony in Mogadishu

* Xan Rice in Nairobi
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 December 2009 16.18 GMT

A suicide bomber reportedly disguised as a woman killed 19 people, including three cabinet ministers, at a graduation ceremony for medical students in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, today.

The attack is the most serious yet against the UN-backed transitional federal government (TFG), which has been unable to exert any real influence on the country because of a violent ...insurgency.

The blast happened at the Shamo hotel, in one of the few areas of Mogadishu to be under nominal TFG control.

Hundreds of people had gathered to witness the graduation of mainly medical students from Benadir University, whose operation throughout the recent years of conflict has been a rare positive story from Somalia.

Five cabinet ministers, assumed to have been the main targets of the attack, were among the guests.

The health minister, Qamar Aden Ali, died at the scene along with the higher education minister, Ibrahim Hassan Addow.

The education minister, Ahmed Abdulahi Waayeel, died on the way the hospital. Several medical students and three journalists were among the 19 people the African Union peacekeeping mission said had been killed.

Dozens were injured, including the head of Benadir's medical department and the sports and tourism ministers.

Amisom, whose 5,200-strong presence in Mogadishu is the only thing keeping the government from complete collapse, said the blast had been caused by a suicide bomber.

Somalia's information minister, Dahir Mohamud Gelle, said [he assumed] the attacker was "a man who disguised himself as a woman, complete with a veil and a female's shoes". The claim could not be independently verified.

While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, suspicion fell on the hardline al-Shabaab Islamist group, which controls large parts of south and central Somalia.

The militant group has increasingly resorted to suicide bombings as a tactic over the past year or so, and has had little difficulty striking in the supposedly safest areas.

In September, suicide attackers rammed two stolen UN vehicles into the heavily fortified Amisom compound in Mogadishu before detonating their bombs, killing 17 peacekeepers and four civilians.

The Shamo hotel, one of the best-known in Mogadishu, is used by some of the few foreigners that brave the city.

Witnesses said guests at the graduation ceremony were sitting in front of a small stage inside a hall when the bomb went off.

The attack was condemned in a joint statement by the EU, the League of Arab States, Norway, the UN, the US and the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, a regional body.

"The horrific attack is another demonstration of the extremists' complete disregard for human life," the statement said. "The fact this bombing targeted graduating medical students ‑ the future doctors of Somalia ‑ is particularly egregious."

The TFG is the 14th attempt at forming an effective government since Somalia descended into anarchy and clan warfare in 1991. It was hoped that the election of the moderate Islamist Sheikh Sharif Ahmed to the presidency in January would help end the insurgency.

But the leaders of al-Shabaab ... and of Hizbul Islam, another rebel group, have refused to negotiate with the government, which they say is a tool of the west.

On several recent occasions, insurgents have tried to assassinate Ahmed, who only three years ago was on the same side as some of the militant leaders as part of the Islamic Courts Union.

The union [which 'union'? the African Union?] wrested control of Mogadishu from various warlords before being ousted by invading Ethiopian troops.

Al-Shabaab is unpopular among most ordinary Somalis, both for the violence of its attacks and its harsh interpretations of Islam ‑ from banning pop music to stoning alleged adulterers to death ‑ which are alien to local culture.

But by exploiting clan dynamics and portraying the struggle against the government as a holy war, Islamists have been able to attract funding, as well as hundreds of recruits, from abroad.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/03/somali-bomb-kills-cabinet-ministers


[2]

1. Mark Whitaker

2. Korea expanding in Africa attempts have failed so far, a review

3. Interesting article from the Korea Times.


12-04-2009 18:44
Korea’s Overseas Development Backfires

Dave Durbach
Korea Times Correspondent

JOHANNESBURG ― South Korea is at the forefront of a new global trend. Unfortunately, it's nothing to be proud of: a global power struggle for food security that threatens the sovereignty of poorer nations and the livelihoods of rural communities in Africa, South East Asia and South America. [hey, how gratifying, or nauseating, your choice, to mention the three 'bottom billion' areas of the course. A good capstone article in the last week of blogposts.]

Ironically, Korea was in a similar position not so long ago - a poor population living off the land, a fragile economy at the mercy of larger powers. As everywhere else, however, newfound power has given rise to a sense of entitlement and self-importance, often at the expense of the poorest of the poor.

As one of the world's most densely populated and fastest developing nations, land in South Korea has become a scarce commodity. Farmland and forests have rapidly made way for factories, roads and new urban development over the past 15 years. As a consequence, Korea has become increasingly dependent on food imports. [Well, no, that has nothing to do with that, it has something to do with the fact that Korea under WTO policies was encouraged to abandon its national agriculture, and swamp it with global food, leading to its ongoing freefall in sustainability. Get the analysis straight first.]

Hard hit by a global financial crisis and rising international food prices, food security has become a key concern for the Lee Myung-bak administration; finding a solution is an urgent national imperative. [Protect your national farmers, perhaps?]

The government's approach to the problem appears to be yielding results, with reports in August predicting that despite shrinking farmland on the peninsula, Korea would enjoy a 10 percent increase in rice production this year, the first since 2005.

The most famous and controversial example is Madagascar, where last year Daewoo announced plans to lease 1.3 million hectares of land for 99 years.
[This led to a Madagascar coup because it is patently illegal to sell of the country for this length of time there.]

Roughly half of the country's arable land, as well as rainforests of rich and unique biodiversity, were to be converted into palm and corn monocultures, producing food for export from a country where a third of the population and 50 percent of children under 5 are malnourished, using workers imported from South Africa instead of locals. Those living on the land were never consulted or informed, despite being dependent on the land for food and income.

The controversial deal played a major part in prolonged anti-government protests on the island that resulted in over a hundred deaths and the removal of President Marc Ravalomanana [whom we saw in videos] from office.

His successor Andry Rajoelina immediately revoked the deal upon taking office, although reports by Rainforest Rescue reveal that for some time after the coup, Daewoo continued to surreptitiously hold some 218,000 hectares of appropriated land.

When the debacle finally seemed to have died down, reports from the nearby east African nation of Tanzania announced that Korea was in talks to develop 100,000 hectares for food production and processing, to the tune of between 700 and 800 billion won.

Apparently wise to the upset caused in Madagascar, this deal seemed more mutually beneficial, with the state-run Korea Rural Community Corp (KRC) reportedly offering technical assistance to local farmers, while using only half the land to produce processed goods such as cooking oil, wine and starch for export to Korea. While the KRC and Korean media were quick to proclaim the deal done and dusted, Tanzanian politicians remained reluctant to confirm that anything had been finalized. If the project does go ahead next year, the "agricultural complex" will be the largest single piece of agricultural infrastructure Korea has ever built overseas.

Africa is not the only target. Private companies and local provincial governments have made deals to procure farmland in eastern Siberia, Sulawesi in Indonesia, Mindoro in the Philippines (94,000 hectares), Cambodia and Bulgan in Mongolia. A few weeks ago, the government announced its intention to invest 30 billion won in land in Paraguay and Uruguay. Discussions with Laos, Myanmar and Senegal are also reportedly underway.

In all cases, it is proving cheaper to farm overseas than to import food. Not surprisingly, however, by paying for the land instead of the labor or product, local communities are effectively being shut out of the process.

That Korea is no longer "importing" this food that is being grown overseas implies that this land is effectively Korean. This amounts to agricultural imperialism.

As during 20th century colonialism, those with money and power are calling the shots. Local farmers and indigenous communities, meanwhile, are up in arms at being cut off from their land and critical of their leaders who are complicit in these deals, unsettling local politics in the developing countries concerned.

Korea is not alone here: other Asian powers are embarking on similar ventures. China is seeking 2 million hectares in Zambia for biofuels; Saudi Arabian investors are spending $100-million for land in Ethiopia, $45-million in Sudan and millions more for 500,000 hectares in Tanzania; Libya has secured 100,000 hectares in Mali for rice; Qatar, 40,000 hectares in Kenya; India's Yes Bank is investing $150 million to start producing wheat and rice on between 30,000 and 50,000 hectares of land by 2011.

Clearly, poor regions where communities don't have legal tenure over land are most vulnerable. Beyond Africa, the Philippines has so far been hardest hit by foreign land grabs, with Japan, China and Qatar leasing millions of hectares from the Filipino government, triggering widespread protests and an official inquiry.

What all cases have in common is that in order to maintain the development trajectories and over-consumptive lifestyles of nations either over-populated or short on natural resources, food and biofuels for the rich are being prioritized over human rights, natural ecosystems and political stability for the poor.

In the past year, farmland has become as strategic a resource as oil fields or uranium mines. It is estimated that more than 20 million hectares of farmland in Africa, Latin America and Asia have already been snapped up by foreign governments and companies. Unfortunately, local leaders cannot be trusted. In Madagascar, for example, soon after the Daewoo deal was shelved, it emerged that Malagasy officials had negotiated the lease of 465,000 hectares of farmland to Mumbai-based Varun International to grow rice for India. Unless global measures are put in place to stop this new colonialism, and if Korea backs out of agreements, other nations will simply step into the breach.

The official spin on it is that South Korea is starting to "give what they really want rather than what you want to give," by investing in agriculture rather than IT, for example. It should be clear by now, however, whose interests are really being served. For Korea, this approach may be more cost-effective than relying on imports, but the question remains: profit at what cost? Korea, or any other country for that matter, has no right to interfere in the sovereignty or stability of another country. Power brings responsibility, not entitlement.

dave.durbach@koreatimes.co.kr

---
http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2009/12/123_56697.html

[3]

1. Mark Whitaker

2. Philippines President declares to martial law in area...of a Presidential-ally/Governor clan presumed responsible for the killing of a candidate for office and the journalists supporting the opposition candidate.

3. This reminds me of the dynamics of the Central African Republic--I hope to watch some films on Tuesday about the Philippines' dynamics.

Philippine President Declares Martial Law


By JAMES HOOKWAY

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared martial law in parts of the southern Philippines Saturday as troops detained the patriarch of a powerful political clan in connection with the massacre of 57 political rivals and journalists last month.

Philippine soldiers stand guard atop an armoured vehicle in front of the Maguindanao provincial capital of Sharif Aguak on December 5, 2009, as the government implemented martial law in the province.

Armed forces chief Gen. Victor Ibrado said clan leader Andal Ampatuan Sr. – a former governor of Maguindanao province where the killings occurred – was taken into custody for questioning Saturday morning along with at least six other family members. His son, Andal Ampatuan Jr., surrendered to authorities last week and was charged with multiple counts of murder on Tuesday, but prosecutors have said that his father – formerly a key ally of Mrs. Arroyo – remains a primary suspect in the Philippines' worst ever case of political violence.

The Ampatuan family has denied any involvement in the killings.

Mrs. Arroyo has come under heavy local and international pressure to chase down and prosecute suspects in the Nov. 23 massacre. Supporters of local vice-mayor Ismail Mangudadatu and 30 journalists were killed as they prepared to file his candidacy to run for the governorship of Maguindanao province, which has been controlled by the Ampatuan family for over a decade. Some of those killed were simply passing by the scene of the attack, investigators say.

* Bomb Hits Philippine Police Station
* Earlier: Arrest in Philippines Case

Political analysts say the killings partly stem from a long-standing government policy to nurture clan leaders and local militias to hem in Muslim and Communist insurgencies in the southern Philippines. This helped create virtually lawless zones where political killings, clan feuds and warlordism were commonplace, analysts say, worsening the security situation in a region that is already home to the ... Abu Sayyaf terrorist group and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The massacre also has raised fears about the risk of further violence in the run-up to national and local elections in May next year. Elections often are violent affairs in the Philippines. Some 126 people were killed during the previous polls in 2007. In 2004, 189 people were killed in election-related violence. Next year's vote could be particularly contentious because Mrs. Arroyo is stepping down because of term limits, and a new president will be elected, potentially triggering a major political realignment in this important U.S. ally.

On Saturday, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita – Mrs. Arroyo's chief of staff – told reporters in Manila that the president had placed Maguindanao province under martial law to help restore order to the area. It is the first time martial law has been imposed in 28 years, and it effectively suspends civil rights. Mrs. Arroyo has also instructed an independent commission to dismantle militias and private armies in the region.

On Friday, hundreds of troops surrounded the Ampatuan [virtual ex-Governor] family compound in Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao, and used sniffer dogs and metal detectors to unearth ammunition buried in the grounds and seized other military equipment stored in the area. Military officials are investigating whether the ordnance was supplied by the Philippine army. Eight journalists killed in the massacre, meanwhile, were buried in a mass grave in nearby General Santos City.

Write to James Hookway at james.hookway@wsj.com

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125998432851178117.html?mod=WSJ_hp_us_mostpop_read