The Horn of Conflict: Inside Ethiopia’s Democracy

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue VII, July 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

The Horn of Conflict: Inside Ethiopia’s Democracy

Sarah M. Musau
PhD student, Department of Diplomacy and International Affairs, Euclid University, Bangui, Central African Republic

Abstract: The Horn of conflict? The Horn of Africa comprises Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, and Somalia, and by extension, Kenya and Uganda. The region is diverse in terms of geography, culture, religion, population, and politics. The region is known as a hotbed of conflicts due to its resource to cross-border to communal conflicts. The realist theoretical approach hold that states operate in a state of anarchy. They are after their self-interest and survival in the international system. This survival leads to a security dilemma. States will do what they can to secure their own security, which induces fear in others who, in turn, increase theirs. Ethiopia, the second-most populous country in Africa, is entrapped into different conflicts: interstate and cross-border conflict with Eritrea, conflict with Tigray People’s Liberation Front, and Nile water conflict with Egypt. Why is Ethiopia entrapped into these conflicts? What is the role of the leaders/political parties in these conflicts? What are the reasons behind these conflicts? How can Ethiopia settle these conflicts? In all these conflicts, survival is Ethiopia’s quest. This paper aims to respond to these questions using an interdisciplinary approach. Ethiopia is well placed to utilize the regional mechanisms to settle these conflicts. Otherwise, it will be a ground for complex conflicts that will spill over to other countries.

Keywords: Ethiopia, Conflict, TPLF, Eritrea, Nile water, Horn of Africa

I. INTRODUCTION

Worldwide, conflicts occur for different reasons. There is no comprehensive explanation of why nations engage in conflict; rather, conflict is a conglomeration of different factors. According to one of the leading scholars, nations fight for resources—population growth demands more of the limited resources available, and the “proliferation of ownership contests” leads to resource conflict. Another author cites the leadership’s misperceptions of their adversary, distortion of their perceptions, and extreme fears and hopes. To another scholar, conflicts occur through a communal lens. Since the end of the Cold War, more than 95 conflicts are civil wars. These wars happen along “cultural lines such as language, religion, or similar characteristics—an ethnic group involves a group name, shared historical memories, and shared symbols.” Also, these wars are likely to occur when the “established mediating mechanisms for mediating conflict break down.” Factors such as economic hardships, illegitimacy, or foreign intervention accelerate these wars. To

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