This article deals with the extradition of a man from Somalia to the United States due to charges of providing money to a terrorist group, as well as receiving training from them. The man, Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed was transferred to United States custody by Nigerian authorities on saturday night, and appeared before a federal magistrate judge in Manhattan. During the hearing he was charged with purchasing a Kalashnikov rifle as well as two hand grenades and making a transfer of 3,000 euros to a terrorist organization known as Al Shabab. In addition Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed was found in November of 2009 possessing instructions for the making of bombs.
This is an interesting article because it may not be explained simply through realist theory. This is because realism does not account for the actions of the individuals as it believes that states are what one should consider when analyzing international relations. Therefore this article is best explained by liberal theory which argues that individuals are those who who shape the state, and thus the ones that should be focused on. As a result this organization to which Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed belongs should be of huge importance to the United States as they have often times stated their desire to hurt the United States. What is interesting is the relationship between the United States and Somalia, the U.S has in the past given Somalia aid, however because the country suffers from such unstable political conditions it is conceivable that a government which is against the United States will rise to power. This according to liberalist theory could occur simply as a result of political opinion amongst the population of Somalia. Liberalism argues that this is the case as the people are those who bring governments into power, however in the situation of a hostile military take over this theory would no longer apply. Furthermore there has been a lot of discussion over the enrichment of Uranium by Iran over the past couple of weeks as this is seen as a great danger to the the United States. However according to Allison Graham (author of Nuclear Disorder Subtitle: Surveying Atomic Threats) The United States should be concerning itself with hostile groups instead of states such as Iran. This is because states are unlikely to have any real ability to attack the United States due to the U.S's large retaliatory capabilities, while individual organizations such as Al Shabab do not have this issue and thus would be able to attack the United States.
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