Last term a professor told my class that the country Somalia is practically synonymous with “failed state” and that it has not had a functioning government for decades. Irked, I raised my hand to say that Somalia has had a centralized, internationally recognized, and functioning government for years now.
Many of my school projects in the last two years have focused on Somalia, and the events that have occurred in this time have being astounding. Effects of the 2011 famine and violence between militant group Al Shabaab and government led forces are still being felt. However, since the government regained control of Mogadishu there has been dramatic reconstruction in the capital city and surrounding areas. Online we can read anecdotes about assassins retiring to become drivers and the start of Somali Idol. The flurry of ambitious repairs to infrastructure and communities show that development is alive in Somalia.
Destruction in Somalia’s capital city.
This is not to say that Somalia is now fixed; there are still thousands of internationally displaced persons and refugees, violence continues, and rural areas lack the same attention Mogadishu receives. Most of all, the country continues to receive inadequate attention and support from the rest of the world. Nonetheless, it must be pointed out that the situation is leaps and bounds better than what most people believe to be true. Somalia is not a forsaken place and we cannot afford to treat it like it is.
When we only see badness in the Global South, we do a disservice to developing countries and those who live in them. Complex problems can only be improved after their complexity is acknowledged, and one-sided negativity prevents this from happening. Even a country with a weak government, food insecurity, and civil unrest should not be called a failed state. Besides the fact that there is no universally accepted definition of “failed state”, this phrase implies that an attempt is over; Somalia tried and failed. This is incredibly unsophisticated thinking and we must embrace humility in order see the world how it is instead of how we imagine it to be.
Where else do you think we see the developing world too simplistically?
Unhinge the Ouroboros 
I think we view the developing world much too simplistically, as well as most of the rest of the world. We like to put things in boxes to make them easy to describe and identify, but in reality EVERYTHING we could every want to put in a box is much to complex to do that to. We have stereotypes about the developing world, and one of those usually is that they’re developing because their governments are failed. But like you said, this is not the case at all. We have to realize development issues are MUCH more complex if we’re going to start to understand those issues.
I think that it is part of the arrogance of developed countries. We see that they don’t have the same state of government and assume it must be a terrible place. That’s why I sometimes enjoy this blog: http://blog.africageographic.com/safari-blog/. It focuses on celebrating aspects of African countries. I would love it if there were balanced news coming out of Somalia so everyone could view it as more than a “failed state”.
That’s a neat site! I agree that balanced media portrayals are essential to understand issues to any degree of accuracy.
I was so mad when he said that Somalia was a failed state. Calling it a “failed state” implies that it’s not fixable when that’s not the case for any country. All nations at one point have had major issues but they can be overcome.
There’s lot s of issues in both the developing world and within our own country. We tend to simplify everything as much as possible. For example, categorizing “developing” and “developed” is a major oversimplification. There’s so many aspects of different countries and we just categorize them where we want. Canada lives completely unsustainable yet we consider ourselves “developed”. It drives me crazy!
One aspect that we view too simplistically is that because of diversity and complexity of cultures, we neglect to consider these aspects when attempting to tackle development issues. We also often discuss how we bring our ‘Western’ views into development projects, and what we need to consider is the differences in culture that affects what we do.
Absolutely. If we can acknowledge that this happens then I think we are better able to avoid misunderstanding and to tackle complex development issues much more effectively.
I think because of the peace that the western world has been able to enjoy for so many years now, it has become difficult to envision conflict and will of the people to survive and succeed in the same context. A lot of this has to do with the media as well, where the portrayal of certain areas around the world are shown in a certain context. That is why when I think of Africa, some of the first few images that come into my head is that of warlords, civil wars, massacres and hungry children with bloated stomachs dying from lack of food and clean water. When I think of Afghanistan, all I can picture is destroyed infrastructure and taliban ruling over a rural population. That is why I agree with your frustrations of how narrow our perceptions can be when considering other countries and their problems. To answer your question, I believe that Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast could be mistaken as failed states.