Comparative Politics - Eritrea
...to Independence
Introduction
Eritrea is a small country in Eastern Africa which gained its independence only twelve years ago, against extreme odds. Eritrea borders the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan, and Ethiopia to the South. The purpose of this paper is to first explain how Eritrean identity came to be; second, to illustrate the often tragic occurrences that lead to Eritrean independence; third, to state the current political, economic, social, and military state of affairs; and lastly, to provide analysis of the aforementioned insofar as how they affect Eritrea's future. Eritrea's past has been marked by power politics involving the world's superpowers, to include Italy, Britain, and most notably, the United States and former Soviet Union (USSR). Eritrea's present situation includes heavy, yet rapidly decreasing, involvement by the United Nations (UN). Its future will depend very much on much delayed elections, the opening of the political system to opposition parties, economic recovery, and a final end to conflict with Ethiopia, which is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world. Are these possible?
Historical Perspective: Events
During the first millennium B.C., tribes from present-day Yemen migrated into the southern highlands of Eritrea, settling on both sides of today's Eritrean-Ethiopian border. Eritrea was part of the Ethiopian kingdom, Aksum. Eritrea fell under the colonial rule of Italy in 1890. The Italians then sought to enlarge their acquisitions in the Horn of Africa by moving inland to Abyssinia. On March 1 of 1896, during the battle of Adowa, the Italians were checked by the imperial army of Menelik II. It was the climactic battle of the First Italo-Abyssinian War. The result was a treaty between Menelik II and Italy that formally declared the status of Eritrea as an...
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