The Shadow of Somalia or Mogadishu Syndrome being the Popular Reason for the International Neglect in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide Is Inaccurate

Abstract

100-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 stakeholders in International Relations have argued that the reason behind this is 'the shadow of Somalia' or 'Mogadishu syndrome' during which 18 US soldiers were killed, and scores injured in a UN-peace keeping exercise in Mogadishu. I critically analyze these two events to indicate that the events in Somalia have very little influence on the international community's neglect of 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 analyzing 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.