Political Science

Somalia is one of the countries in Africa. This country features postcard-quality images of natural beauty. That is why, the National Geographic, for example, features Somalia as one of the countries in the companys travel website (National Geographic, 2010). Despite the beauty, there are also problems. Some of the problems include those about crime, health and the environment. The discussion of these aspects will be the key focus of the discussion of the paper.

Discussion
Somalia has many different aspects. However, the focus of this paper is about three of the most important components of Somalia as a country  its environment, the presence of the problem of crime in the country and the presence of diseases in the country. The paper will tackle how it is a problem in the country as well as how the government and the international community are responding to the problems of disease, crime and the environmental condition of Somalia.

Overview on Environment
Somalia has poor design in environment protection. Domestic waste disposal is a problem. The absence of sufficient logistics for a sound waste management system threatens the environment. Besides land forms, bodies of water like rivers and other bodies of water found in Somalia is often problematic as a result of the pollution affecting these areas, like chemical poisoning from mine sites. The quality of water and air is also not in the ideal condition because of many factors including the normal everyday practices of the Somali people which are not conducive to protecting and sustaining the environment. Actions of the people like mining, hunting and other activities have seriously impacted on the natural environment of the country.

Overview on Crime
Crime is one of the significant problems in Somalia. As most anthropologists and sociologists explain it, crime and crime rate has always been strongly connected with poverty. The Somalias state of poverty among many of its people has resulted in the problem of increasing and uncontrolled crime inside the country. There are many different forms of crime that is recorded in Somalia, from petty crimes to crimes of passion to heinous crime and crime of poverty and necessity. However, some of the most popular forms of crimes in the country that has attracted not just local government but the attention as well of the international community are the problems of piracy and the problem of human trafficking.

Piracy
The bodies of water surrounding Africa is a busy sea lane featuring many different merchant ships passing to and from. These merchant ships possess valuable items that are very tempting to the poor people from different African countries, including Somalia. With almost nothing to eat and easy access to weapons supply, poor governance and the near breakdown of social welfare system, it is easy to imagine how many people from Somalia are willing to risk their lives for the profit earned from piracy. Each year, many cases of piracy happening in, or close to Somalia are being reported, while some of the captured pirates are often Somalis. This has captured the attention of countries that has important interests in keeping African waters free from piracy, like the UK. British news agencies like the BBC have often reported piracy involving Somalia and its people. It has not stopped operating because piracy is very profitable especially among people who have no other opportunities for financial improvement and means to earn a decent living sufficient to feed ones self and ones family. Many efforts have been made to investigate this problem (BBC, 2009). Piracy is a problem of Somalia. People are easily tempted considering the territory of Somalia regarding the bodies of water, including its share of the Indian Ocean as well as the Gulf Of Aden (Taylor  Francis Group, 2004, p. 3822).

Human Trafficking
Another problem of Somalia is human trafficking. Reminiscent of the old slave days, the condition in Somalia is no better. Somali women, men and children are being herded off and traded like items with other merchants who have use for them, either as slaves, as part of the private army, or as prostitutes and drug couriers. Like everything else, the governments failure to take concrete actions versus social problems is an important factor as to the prevalence of the problem of human trafficking in Somalia. This has been a problem in Somalia for years now. It has been growing and becoming more and more complicated. For example, there are times when family members are aware of the problem but participate nonetheless because of the profit, the much needed money that is difficult for them to find in an honest day job for an average Somali in the country. Many professionals believe that Punt land is the main artery of the human trafficking and piracy activities in the country. It has partnered with other countries like Yemen to stop the problem of human trafficking (Lewis, 2008, p. 104).

Potential Problems
Besides the common forms of crimes found in Somalia, the changing social conditions can also affect Somalia. Many people in the country are still very poor and prone to exploitation. The country is still very much vulnerable to suffering from other kinds of crimes that may enter Somalia in the future. For example, one of the newest problems when it comes to crimes around the world is cyber crime, wherein crimes that are being committed are hinged largely on computer and the Internet or cyberspace. Often, the crime and the criminal are using or focused on the internet to perpetuate the crime. As of the moment, reports regarding the crime condition in Somalia indicate that the country is still to feel the problem of cyber-crimes. This is largely because of factors that affect this condition, like the rate of illiteracy in the country, the financial state of the country and its people which makes them incapable of buying computers and accessing the internet, etc. As the trend of cyber-crime moves inward towards previously unexplored and unexploited countries, it is not surprising that Somalia can be the next victim of cyber crimes which may result to prostitution, increased human traffic and other problems like drug smuggling and other forms of crimes.

Overview on Disease
One of the positive characteristics of Somalia is the low AIDS infection rate in the country. AIDS has been strongly believed as something that has originated from Africa and is prevalent in African nations. Somalia features a population that has very little number of individuals affected by AIDS. The disease, transmitted commonly through sexual intercourse, has difficulty spreading considering the moral values Muslims attach to sex, making it less rampant compared to sexual activities and AIDS infection ratings in Somalias neighboring countries. Besides AIDS, Somalia also has had problems with other diseases. The problems are not overly significant that it requires the attention of international organizations. The presence of such organizations in country, like the World Health Organization or WHO and the UN medical missions can contribute significantly to the development of health and health care in the country. The poverty in many parts of Somalia also results to poor diet and nutrition, which in turn, results to health problems in the long run. The WHO runs an important health-related database in its website so that people can have an overview of the statistics related to health in the country (World Health Organization, 2010).

Impact
The conditions of the environment, as well as the problems of crime and disease in Somalia, have significantly affected the country, in particular on the economy and development of Somalia. Investors are unwilling or undecided to invest in Somalia because of the inability of the government to control the problem on crime. Education, as well as health and well-being of the bigger majority, are being put at significant risk. The government cannot handle its problems on disease and its spread, and at the same time this affects the manpower of Somalia. Countries affected by piracy can justify being discouraged to participate in providing help and assistance to Somalia and its economy. Diseases make people more incapable for work locally or abroad. The problems in the environment contribute to the state of health of individuals, which in turn, impact their ability to be productive and help the economy of the country. This is the reason why the economy of Somalia, for a long time, has been struggling to develop, improve and move forward. Organizations like World Bank has continuously provided aid and support to help Somalia in agriculture and other aspects to keep the people from participating criminal acts.

Conclusion
If there are any serious implications in lieu with globalization, it would include the increase of international trade which will increase shipping which in turn will increase piracy. More people will be more attracted to the growing target composed of merchant ships. On the positive side, the philanthropic aspect of globalization can provide significant assistance to Somalia. With the intervention of foreign political leaders and capitalist, Somalia can be rehabilitated to be an important trade and economic hub in Africa as a result of globalization, which in turn can help Somalia improve and develop, and in the process, fight and win over disease and crime and enable them to be capable in attending also to the needs of the environment.