Group 1 Global Security Studies

O n April 6th, 1994, the President of Rwanda was killed when his plane was shot down by an unknown group. This incident led to the Rwandan genocide, where roughly 800,000 people from the minority ethnic group known as Tutsi were killed by the majority ethnic group known as the Hutu within the span of three months. An additional two million people fled Rwanda seeking refuge. The devastating events in Rwanda and the enormous swell of refugees fleeing Rwanda led to an international crisis, as the international community struggled to pick up the pieces left behind by the Hutu and Tutsi conflict. However, the conflicts between the Hutu's and Tutsi's have not always existed, but were created by the colonization of Rwanda by Belgium. The events leading up to the Rwandan genocide reinforce the idea that ethnicity is a created rather than inherent concept. Before the Belgians colonized Rwanda, the only difference between the Hutu's and the Tutsi's were economic differences. T...

The essence of global security relates back to a state or nation’s fundamental need to be respected and recognized by the international community.   Breaches of this need have the ability to offset the balance of power in a particular region or cause a Darwinian scenario where more powerful nations exploit the weaknesses of developing nations.   The situation in Somalia is the perfect example of this type of scenario.   Beginning in the early 1990s, the government of Somalia began to unravel into a virtually “lawless country” void of military power to protect its borders (Qasim).   This collapse spelled the decline and forfeiture of its lucrative fishing industry to foreign poachers “engaged in the illegal exploitation of [Somalia’s] marine resources” ( Dini 1).   On the surface the demise of Somalia's main industry seems more of an economic calamity than a social one; however, the decline of the country’s livelihood sparked the emergence of Somali piracy and d...

Shannon Hargitt Global Security Studies Professor Shirk 1 October 2017 Piracy and the Security of Somalia Instability in the nation directly opens the door to illegal activity to gain basic personal and human security. Piracy is a direct effect of government instability in Somalia. Due to the instability in government and individual security, a rogue group of people decided to find another way to provide for their families and communities thus bringing a false sense of stability and security. Somali is a failed state, the government has collapsed and is mostly non-existent, and whatever government there is holds no real power to create change or help its people. Therefore, instability lead to the need for Somali pirates to begin raiding and holding ships for hostage to bring a profit back to their communities. Piracy is an act in which people set up preplanned attacks on ships and cargo vessels to either rob them or hold them for ransom. The profits o...