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Militarized Diplomacy: foreign policy ERITREA between continuity and discontinuity (Part I) Eritrea

This article il frutto delle riflessioni e degli interventi scaturiti da una conferenza organizzata dal centro di ricerca di politica internazionale Chatham House di Londra il 17 dicembre 2007 e dal titolo “Eritrea’s Regional Role and Foreign Policy: Past, Present and Future Perspectives"

LIMES, RIVISTA ITALIANA DI GEOPOLITICA

di Matteo Guglielmo
pubblicato il 26/2/2008 su http://www.limesonline.com

I rapporti politici tra Etiopia ed Eritrea sembrano essere nuovamente degenerati. I venti di guerra si avvicinano, mentre si respira la medesima atmosfera che precedette the last confrontation of the war 1998-2000. Major international research centers such as the International Crisis Group and the Chatham House, agree the situation to an end. The political motivations of this new escalation which could threaten to drag other countries in the Horn of Africa, Somalia in the head.

"The history of the regional borders of Eritrea does not go back more than a hundred years. All Eritreans are born equal. No ethnic group is superior or inferior to others. Eritrea belongs equally to every Eritrean. The new government therefore will fight forever against any divisive forces to create regional and religious conflicts in the country. "
Extract from speech of President Isaias Afwerki during the inauguration of the new regional administrative divisions of the country (Zoba) in 1995.

A Smara, August 20 2007. Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki is preparing to release a long and full interview on national television ERITV concerning the state of relations with Washington. For two years now, in fact,
ties with the United States appear to be significantly impaired. The Isaias positions in foreign policy - sometimes unscrupulous - have often left stunned not only most of Western diplomacy, but the same U.S. administration, which - through its special envoy Jendayi Frazer - has just occurred on the role of Eritrea in the Somali crisis, defining "dangerous terrorists" some members of the deposed Islamic Courts in Mogadishu that is now in Asmara, and so accusing Eritrea of \u200b\u200bsupporting and supporting international terrorism in the Horn of Africa.

the allegations of the Secretary of the State Department in recent months has promptly responded to the Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu, who now described as "unjustified" action by the Frazer, emphasizing not only the commitment of country against the international terrorism of Islamic origin, but fighting back to the words of the Secretary determine the position of Washington "arrogant and time to carry out a political pressure on the Eritrean government". Although diplomacy remains largely a matter of Asmara to read, especially in the short term, the exchange of words between Eritrea and the Bush administration stresses the important role that the country currently holds the balance of power in the Horn , also reveals a certain impatience with the base "discriminatory" project of regional balance etiopicostatunitense. This, indeed, in the words of the president himself Afwerki, sarebbe diretto più che altro alla subordinazione delle numerose “periferie” della regione; dalla Somalia all’Ogaden, dall’Eritrea al Darfur.

L’Eritrea ha certamente dimostrato un ottimo grado d’institution-building a seguito della sua vittoria militare per l’indipendenza, contro un’Etiopia dapprima appoggiata dagli Stati Uniti (1953-1977), e successivamente sostenuta – durante buona parte del periodo di governo del Dergue – dall’Unione Sovietica (1977-1991). Il paese, negli ultimi quindici anni, è riuscito a legittimare il proprio status di nuovo attore della comunità internazionale a seguito di un referendum vinto dalle forze indipendentiste con quasi il 98,5% dei voti, e dove si espressero il 99,8% degli aventi diritto. La leadership politica, che dopo il 1993 ha guidato il paese attraverso la transizione delle istituzioni da movimento di guerriglia ad amministrazione di stampo civile, si è presentata però profondamente divisa, soprattutto in merito al modello di governance da adottare. In seguito, infatti, prevalse all’interno dell’esecutivo una linea politica certamente più pragmatica, ma drammaticamente antidemocratica, principalmente a causa dei numerosi contenziosi legati ai confini che hanno visto l’Eritrea contrapporsi ai suoi importanti vicini per buona parte della seconda metà degli anni Novanta, fino allo scoppio della guerra di frontiera with Ethiopia in 1998. This conflict, in particular, seems to have dragged the country into a vortex of military mobilization and political repression unprecedented, who ended up seriously compromising the prospects for democratization. The situation has further deteriorated in 2006, with the increase in custodial measures against a number of political dissidents, accompanied by strong restrictions on NGOs and international aid agencies in the area. Eritrea's independence, achieved after nearly three decades of guerrilla warfare, carried out first and then dall'Eritrean dall'Eritrean Liberation Front People's Liberation Front (EPLF), led to a strong concentration of political power, now held firmly in the hands of leadership of the former military commander - and current president - Isaias Afwerki. The constitution, ratified in 1997 has not yet been implemented, and elections have been postponed indefinitely. The

Eritrea lives in a perpetual state of emergency, and the constant state of tension with Ethiopia not only dominates all political discourse, but seems to serve the scheme as a means of mobilization and militarization inside.