How foreign policy blunders helped create the famine in Somalia

The famine in Somalia is not simply a consequence of drought, but also the result of giving primacy to security interests over human needs, says Mark Bradbury.

FAMINE has returned to Somalia, and so has the US military. This is no natural disaster. Just as the US sent its first drones to Somalia, targeting leaders of the militant Islamist group al-Shabaab, tens of thousands of Somalis were crossing into Kenya, fleeing a catastrophic drought and conflict.

While US drones were able to find their targets in Somalia with pinpoint accuracy, humanitarian agencies have had less luck. They have experienced a catastrophic decline in access that has destroyed their ability to assist and protect civilians. The families crossing into Kenya are escaping from a severe drought but they are also fleeing a war.

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*Third World Resurgence No. 251/252, July/August 2011, pp 21-22