Mogadishu deaths remind world of cruel reality

The bombing that hit the center of Mogadishu on Saturday killed more than 300 people and injured hundreds. The terror attack that caused the worst casualties in Somalia’s history was condemned by the international community but has drawn less Western media attention than the California wildfires.

This is the cruel reality of today’s international politics.

Somalia has long been engulfed by chaos. Tragedies occur almost every day, with numerous people killed and dislocated. Continuous turmoil has numbed international sympathy for the death and evil on this land. For many it’s like a different world. Into this forgotten world we may add Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and the Mediterranean where dozens die every day.

The African Union Mission to Somalia is not sizeable enough to help the country restore order. The US intended to make Somalia a model for Africa. Then it gradually withdrew due to mounting domestic pressure after two US Black Hawk helicopters were shot down in a raid on Mogadishu in 1993.

Countries and regions such as Somalia are like bleeding wounds on the planet, for which the West needs to be blamed. The unsettled places are the results of either irresponsible Western colonization or US interventions as the new hegemon.

The West has offered aid to its victims out of moral obligations, yet in a selective and halfhearted way. Since Western countries are now struggling to deal with their own problems and have turned inward to cater to populism, they focus less on helping developing countries.

But in a global era, the problems confronting Europe and the US are mostly the spillover of troubles in places like Somalia and Syria. Unfortunately, Europe and the US grow increasingly selfish, narrow-minded and shortsighted.

The deadly bombing in Mogadishu also reflects the severe imbalance and unfairness of the international political and economic order.

Statistics reveal a depressing fact: From the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century until now, the worldwide wealth gap has been expanding. Where has all the wealth gone? This is far more than just an academic question.

It’s unimaginable for people leading peaceful lives that there is such poverty, hunger and suffering in the 21st century. The development of human society is far from perfect. It should be the common mission of countries, developed in particular, to make the world a better place and enable more people to share the development outcomes of modernization.

The explosions in Somalia are both a deafening denunciation of the West and a reminder to the world. The demise of so many lives is a lesson for all humanity.