The Horn of Africa is located at the gate of Bab al-Mandab which connects the gulf of Aden to the Red Sea. The Red Sea is a vital route connects the Mediterranean sea to the Indian ocean. This makes it one of the most important and busiest routes in the world. The Red Sea was not as important as it is today.
To understand how the region has become unstable, we have to go back to history. During the 1600´s Kingdoms in the Horn of Africa were fighting over power, territory and religion. These kingdoms mainly include the Abyssinians, oromo’s, Adal (Somali and afars) along with other players. To complicate the matter more there was presence of the ottomans and Portuguese at the time using these kingdoms as a proxy over religion and influence on the region. Arm deals were facilitated by these foreign powers in the Horn. It was at this time Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi came into play with an ambition to unite the horn. Ethnically Somali Ahmad Gurey was successful to some extent but failed to finish what he started. The after math was era of warlords in which kingdoms fought everywhere in the horn of Africa for power. As we all know the Horn of Africa is one of the most diverse places on earth due to geographical and other factors. This continued until the 1800´s.
It was at this time the fate of the Horn of Africa changed forever. In November 1869 the Suez Canal was built by a French company by the funds provided from Britain. This made the Red Sea the most strategically important place in the world over night. It was at this time the Europeans started to colonize Africa for the control of resources. This led to the Berlin conference to divide Africa in order to avoid fight and competition between the Europeans.
At this point, France, Italy, and Britain arrived in the Horn of Africa to claim their respective interests. Western powers quickly moved to seize control of the Red Sea shores, beginning with modern day Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti in order to safeguard their ships as they passed through this region.
Red Sea served as a bridge at the time between European colonies in east Asia and Europe. People were separated because of these demarcations. These aggressions from the Europeans led to internal unity among some strong kingdoms that used to fight over resources. It was at this critical time a man with ambitions as Ahmad Gurey was born. Emperor Menelik II was able to unite the Horn of Africa to some extent but the Europeans were already present so he could not complete his expansion. This led to Italo-Ethiopian war for the control of Ethiopia. At the Battle of Adwa in 1896 Italy was defeated and the Ethiopians were not in a position to fight for the colonized lands. Later, Neo colonialism follows which interfered in regional politics. The results were several wars, unnecessary coups and hatred in the horn of Africa.
The Horn of Africa has common culture, language, religion and shared History. However, many new countries have been created since. So, rather than fighting over power and resources, we should concentrate on how to equally profit from our region. We must use the Red Sea for our own profit, not for the benefit of others. These are not things to fight over. Some outside forces want us to take that action.
I personally believe the only way is talk our issues and find solutions that can benefit all. We don’t have to beg with the resources we have. Economic, political and military integration could make the region powerful over constantly changing world politics. The funny part is we live in peace in foreign countries like Europe and America as neighbors, yet we cannot live in peace on our own land. We must not wait for a solution from outside. The lasting peace and security lies within ourselves.
Read more..
Troubled Waters: Ethiopia, Somalia, and the Somaliland Impasse
Ethiopia Congratulates Eritrea Amid Cold Bilateral Relations
I share your passionate plea for sanity and peace. Enough is enough. We are dead tired of wars, direct or proxy.