Question

Quick question: are we Americans disadvantaged by helping the less developed countries? Because some people say we have our own problems.

Answer 1

We certainly have our own problems, but our disadvantage is our collective inability to realize that OUR problems are interrelated to those problems in the rest of the world. That is, all of these problems are collective - issues in Somalia effect our problems (think Somali pirates hijacking cargo containers).

Answer 2

There is no right or wrong answer to this question. The implications that our policymakers/politicians decide to make have effects that can either be advantageous or a disadvantage; it really boils down to which side of the issue you're on, and having the foresight to see possible repercussions of our actions. If we hadn't supplied the Taliban with aid during the Soviet-Afghan war, would Al Qaeda have had the ability to carry out the 9/11 attacks? Did our policymakers understand how deeply unpopular the Shah of Iran was, prior to being overthrown by the Islamic theocracy? If the issue is really important, something will be done; it just depends on how much of a vested interest we have in that particular issue.

In response to the post by the previous responder: the actions of the Somali pirates affect not just us, but other states that make use of the region to ship goods. Inaction on our part will lead other states to fill the void in order to protect their own interests. It isn't necessarily required of us to fulfill that role of Sheriff of the Somali Horn.