Brain Drain Dooms Somalia?
on May 21, 2008 7:07 AM
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With peace talks in Djibouti underpinned by growing momentum for another round of U.N. peacekeeping, is Somalia on the verge of a turn-around following 17 years of conflict? Mark Bowden asked this question in a piece for
The Philadelphia Enquirer.
His answer is pessimistic:
One of the things Somalia lacks is a capable, homegrown movement of educated, determined nationalists capable of fending off the religious radicals, disarming and controlling the warlords, and standing up for the interests of people who just want a stable, civil society. I wonder whether the drain of Somali talent, money, and ambition to other places in the world -- so evident in Minneapolis-St. Paul [with its large Somali population] -- isn't one of the reasons no such movement exists. ...
It makes me wonder whether some of the misery in Somalia might be caused by this relative ease of foreign travel and immigration. I am not suggesting we throw up barriers to Somalis or anyone else. Global immigration patterns are a vital and natural consequence of an increasingly international market economy. But one downside might be the perpetuation of failure in states such as Somalia.
(Photo: me)
What do you think?