![Sample our Politics & International Relations journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5947/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Politics-International-Relations.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
The Ethio-Eritrea border war, which took place from 1998–2000, was not formally resolved until the signing of a peace declaration on 9 July 2018. Known as a ‘fight between two bald men over a comb’, this conflict has long puzzled social scientists and political analysts. While the two countries provided different explanations for the conflict to rally public support and justify the price of war, the author argues that the conflict exceeded the logics of territorial integrity. Rather, he contends that given the colonial legacy of intentionally instituting borders to divide communities and ethnic groups, it is not possible to fully understand the border dispute without accounting for the transnational nature of the ruling ethnic groups. This is because the border and ethnic conflicts that have characterised post-colonial Africa have usually been linked to the creation of inter-ethnic groups, intra-ethnic competition and artificial boundaries between neighbouring nation-states. The Ethio-Eritrea border dispute is best understood through the lens of an ethno-linguistic struggle for supremacy disguised as a patriotic campaign against invaders. The paper concludes by reflecting on the durability of the 2018 peace declaration.
Acknowledgements
Thanks go to Omer Aijazi, Director of Disaster Programs at CPRD and Lecturer in Global Challenges, Brunel University, for his comments on an earlier draft of this article. I would also like to thank three anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions and thoughtful comments.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Huntington, ‘The Clash of Civilizations?’, 22–49.
2. Kuperman, Explaining the Ultimate Escalation in Rwanda, 3–6.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Bereketeab, The Complex Roots of the Second Eritrea-Ethiopia War, 24.
6. Ibid.
7. Saleh, ‘Competing Identities and the Emergence of Eritrean Nationalism’, 1400.
8. Ibid., 1378.
9. Marcus, ‘Racist Discourse about Ethiopia and Ethiopians before and after the Battle of Adwa,’ 229–37.
10. Fiaschi, ‘The Mutilated in Abyssinia’, 505–506. See also, Hickman, ‘First Italo-Ethiopian War’.
11. Ibid.
12. Plowden, Travels in Abyssinia and the Galla Country, 39.
13. Legesse, ‘The Uprooted’.
14. Horowitz, Ethnic Groups in Conflict, 149–66.
15. Dirar, ‘Colonialism and the Construction of National Identities’, 256–276.
16. Prunier, ‘Revue Française d’Histoire d’Outre-Mer’, 275–276.
17. While the Eritrean Tigrigna ethnic group is named after its language (Tigrigna), the Ethiopian Tigrigna is named after the Northern Ethiopian region, Tigray. They are referred as Tigrayans (Tigraians).
18. Young, Peasant revolution in Ethiopia, 49–73.
19. Ibid., 72.
20. Berhe, ‘The Origins of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front’, 569–592.
21. Young, Peasant revolution in Ethiopia, 50.
22. Novati, ‘Colonialism as State-Maker in the History of the Horn of Africa’, 236.
23. Saleh, ‘Competing Identities and the Emergence of Eritrean Nationalism’, 1399.
24. Trivelli, ‘Divided Histories, Opportunistic Alliances’, 267.
25. Berhe, ‘The Origins of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front’, 573.
26. Ibid.
27. See Saleh, ‘Competing Identities and the Emergence of Eritrean Nationalism’, 1405.
28. Reid, ‘Old Problems in New Conflict’, 369–401.
29. Jacquin, ‘Nationalism and Secession in the Horn of Africa.’
30. Prunier, ‘The Ethio-Eritrean Conflict.’
31. Young, Peasant revolution in Ethiopia, 73.
32. Ibid., 74.
33. Trivelli, ‘Divided Histories, Opportunistic Alliances’, 269.
34. The Dergue is the Marxist military Ethiopian regime which lasted from 1974 to 1991(it took power over from Emperor Haile Sellassie and it collapsed with the arrival TPLF and EPLF forces in 1991). The Dergue was led by Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam.
35. Berhe, A Political History of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, 201–202.
36. Trivelli, ‘Divided Histories, Opportunistic Alliances’, 257–289.
37. Negash and Tronvoll, Brothers at War, 83.
38. See Prunier.
39. Veen, ‘The disintegration of states in Africa’.
40. Berhe, A Political History of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, 239–40.
41. Ibid., 240.
42. IRIN, ‘Ethiopia-Eritrea: Commission Rules on Border War claims’.
43. Reuters, ‘UN Says Pace of Eritrea Refugee Exodus Quickening’.
44. Reuters, ‘One third of Eritreans face humanitarian crisis – UN’.
45. UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea, ‘UN Commission of Inquiry (UNCOIE) continues operations under revised mandate’. (A/HRC/29/CRP.1.). See also UNCOIE, ‘Report of the detailed findings of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea’2016.
46. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), ‘UNHCR fact sheet. See also, UNHCR operational data portal.
47. European Commission, ‘Ethiopia – Eritrean refugee influx’.
48. Bereketeab, ‘The Ethiopia-Eritrea Rapprochement’, 42.
49. Ibid.
50. Bolton, Surrender is Not an Option: Defending America, 344–348.
51. Reuters, ‘U.N. Chief Says Sanctions on Eritrea Likely to become Obsolete’.
52. Afwerki, ‘President’s Speech on Eritrea Martyrs Day commemoration’.
53. Ancel, A Muslim Prophecy Justifying the Conversion of Ethiopian, 315–333.
54. International Peace Institute (IPI), ‘Pacific Settlement of Border Disputes: Lessons’, 41–42.
55. Bell and O’Rourke, ‘The People’s Peace?’ 293–324. See also, Rausch and Luu, ‘Inclusive Peace Processes are Key to Ending Violent Conflict’.
56. Gedamu, ‘What Ethiopia Needs is a New Federal Arrangement’.
57. Ahmed, ‘PM Abiy Ahmed’s Speech’.
58. Murithi, Tim, and Judi Hudson, ‘United Nations mediation experience in Africa’.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Bahlbi Y. Malk
Bahlbi Y. Malk is a Senior Researcher and Director of Post-war Recovery Programmes at the Canadian Partnership for Reconstruction and Development (CPRD), Vancouver, British Columbia.