Go to AfricaBib home

Go to AfricaBib home AfricaBib Go to database home

bibliographic database
Line
Previous page New search

The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here

Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Ethiopian foreign policy and the Ogaden War: the shift from 'containment to 'destabilization', 1977-1991
Author:Yihun, Belete Belachew
Year:2014
Periodical:Journal of Eastern African Studies (ISSN 1753-1063)
Volume:8
Issue:4
Pages:677-691
Language:English
Geographic terms:Ethiopia
Somalia
Subjects:foreign policy
international conflicts
political history
External link:https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2014.947469
Abstract:Ethiopia and Somalia have endured a complex and difficult relationship since the decolonization of Somaliland and Italian Somalia in 1960, when both former colonies came together to form the Republic of Somalia. Political tension has primarily revolved around Somalia's irredentist agenda of establishing a Greater Somalia state. This article charts Ethio-Somalia relations under the Derg, especially from the years following the Ogaden War up to 1991. With Siad Barre's invasion of Ethiopia in 1977, the military regime of the Derg implemented policies aimed at the weakening and destabilization of the Republic of Somalia. This initiative was based upon precautionary plans first laid down under the imperial administration of Haile Selassie. The defeat of the Somalia army in the Ogaden would in fact herald the beginnings of the collapse of the power of Siad Barre and the Somali State, but the destabilization of Somalia has also destabilized the entire region of the Horn of Africa. This article charts the Ethiopian response to Somali irredentism at this crucial time, particularly focusing on the clandestine operations by the Derg to permanently eliminate the threat posed by Somalia. Previously untapped archival materials from the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs are used as the basis for this analysis of Ethiopia's foreign policy. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]
Views
Cover