The Somalia affair came as such as surprise to the Canadian public as no one would have thought Canada 's golden reputation for international peacekeeping could be tarnished . The Somalia Affair and the ensuing commission of inquiry has become the subject of intense criticism and has given rise to a great deal of comparative theoretical work on humanitarian intervention and peacekeeping . In her book Sherene Razack asks if it was just a case of " a few bad apples " in the Canadian forces , or if the Somalia affair speaks to a larger issue on the complex nature of peacekeeping and humanitarian intervention . Thomas Weiss comments that the failures in Somalia have led to this concept of " Somalia syndrome " : " multilateral interventions to thwart starvation , genocide , the forced movement of peoples , and massive violations of fundamental rights are no longer politically or operationally feasible ” . Peacekeepers are more likely to be involved in peace enforcement in more warlike conditions as unlike traditional peacekeeping ; there is not always consent from all the conflicting parties . Such was the case in Somalia as the men were hypervigilant with a sense of fear and frustration as they were trained for combat yet charged with providing humanitarian aid . Faced with this strong Somali opposition and resentment and yet being responsible for providing aid meant that Canadian peacekeepers " increasingly could not find meaning in their activities " . A " Somalia syndrome " sentiment lingered in the international community after the failures in the war-torn country . Weiss , however , reminds us not to take Somalia out of context or draw upon the wrong lessons leading to isolationism or eschewing necessary humanitarian intervention . The debacle in Somalia would be so paralyzing that it would lead to an unwillingness from the international community to respond to future problems , like the Rwandan genocide . The United States under the Clinton administration would need to rethink its foreign policies and the rest of the world just did not want another Somalia affair
Rwandan genocide
Rwandan genocide
Somalia affair