Posted by
Soldier Dad on Thursday, July 20, 2006 9:29:22 AM
The most popular border in the world these days, at least in terms of international diplomatic attention, is definitely that between Israel and Lebanon. But it is not the only point of conflict and is not even the only one in which Islamists are flexing their muscles. Weeks after an Islamist coalition seized power in the fractious, war-stricken Somalia and began executing citizens summarily for such heinous crimes as watching the World Cup, there are reports of Ethiopian soldiers crossing the border, allegedly to support the UN-approved and completely powerless transitional government in the town of Baidoa.
There is no love lost between Ethiopia and Somalia, as the two countries represent two divergent historic cultural traditions in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia's traditional Christian majority has been diminishing in recent years and the growing Muslim power represents a threat to conservative forces. This has exacerbated tensions with the majority Muslim population in Somalia. While the possibility of Somali unrest spilling into Ethiopia was frightening, Ethiopia's leaders now face a potentially more disturbing danger in an Islamist government that would likely support the growing Ethiopian Muslim community.
The world can and should remain focused on the Middle East at the present time, but if we forget about East Africa, the future could become bleak indeed. In addition to the humanitarian crisis of a conflict between Ethiopia and Somalia, the world would face economic disruption and massive security concerns if the regional lawlessness spread into the local waterways and essential choke points. If only it was as safe as it is easy to focus only on one area of the world, we would be OK. Time to keep our fingers crossed that we're as good at multitasking as everyone hopes.