TRAGEDY: another victim (XINHUA)

Illegitimate 

Despite the international legitimacy offered to the Transitional Authority that attempted to centralize control of the state in Mogadishu, along with international support- particularly from neighboring state's militaries- the legitimacy of Somalian authority, which is key to any real semblance of statehood, remains a key domestic issue hindering real political or economic development. Until the nominal government, in its current, or any other democratically legitimate form, is able to project its authority beyond a few heavily fortified streets in the nation's conflict-ruined capital, the issue of a political union in Somalia remains an illusion.

Somalia's African neighbors, and the international powers that be with any historical investment in Africa, have a lot to answer for when it comes to the derelict state of Somalia. International recognition has been a key pursuit of the transitional authority in Mogadishu since its inception, and its coalition with the Islamic Courts Union was hoped to be a major indication that it could tie the country back together. As such, those goals are on hold because Somalia cannot keep its house in order. They are also on hold because the geo-political circumstances that have bedeviled Somalia since its administration days continue to constrict any real international political interest in the troubled state. It has none of the valuable mineral or natural resources that the global markets need, and what little it does have, suffers for extraction, manufacture and export due to the crippling security risks associated. Even international trade is at risk, given the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden adjacent.

International assistance and intervention have proved disastrous and fruitful over the years, and not necessarily in that order. The much-scrutinized 1993 American-led invasion of Mogadishu, and the debacle that followed, set the tone for American foreign policy for almost a decade following. On the other hand, the Transitional Authority's courting of its neighbors and other continental colleagues' assistance over the past 10 years has proved more fortuitous– African-led forums such as the AU, and even the regional bodies in the neighborhood, such as the East Africa Community and the Arab League, are far more likely to consider the Somalia issue with more priority than the UN or its subsidiary organizations.