The shadow of Somalia is not the reason for the international neglect in the 1994 Rwandan genocide

Abstract

The100-day Rwandan killings in 1994 took approximately 800,000 lives and displaced about 2 million people. The United States and the International Community have been blamed for this ‘catastrophic snub’ and stake holders in International Relations have argued that the reason behind
this is ‘the shadow of Somalia’ or ‘Mogadishu syndrome’ during which 18 U.S Soldiers were killed, and scores injured in an UN-peace keeping exercise in Mogadishu. This paper critically analyses these two events to indicate that the events in Somalia have very little influence on the international community’s neglect on Rwanda. It is also paramount to note that external influences from the same international community played crucial roles in the genocide, making it even clearer why such an excuse will stand. This review is therefore aimed at critically analysing these separate events in the two African nations to indicate that the events in Somalia had very little influence on the decision of the international community to totally neglect Rwanda, especially if the UNISOM II operations had learnt from UNITAF and operated differently from the way it did; also putting into consideration, the UN, Belgium, France and the United States who played crucial roles in letting the genocide happen.