Ethio-Sudan Relations: Cooperation And Conflict In The 1990s
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Date
2023-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This thesis investigates the evolving relations between the TPLF/EPRDF-led government and the
Sudanese government in the early 1990s. The thesis highlights how the relationship between the
two regimes shifted from cooperation and aiming towards building a cordial relationship to
enmity and armed conflict. This argument is made based on primary data collected from 17 key
informants with primary knowledge of the different security and diplomatic exchanges, including
members of the local community, members of the Ethiopian armed forces, and diplomatic
sources. The study uses three sub-cases of direct interactions between the two countries located
along their borders: Gambella, Benisgangul-Gumuz, and northwestern Amhara, and a fourth
case of a regional alliance created by Ethiopia, Uganda, and Eritrea, with Kenya allowing its
territory as a route for Ethiopian and Eritrean troops to cross to Uganda with US‟ financial
assistance. The analysis is informed by a critical understanding of security dynamics in weak
states and the Horn of Africa and by the regional conflict complex theory. The thesis highlights
that the Ethiopian government initially aspired for cordial relations and was pushing the Sudan
People‟s Liberation Army to stop operating in and from Ethiopia. However, Sudanese
interference in local politics in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia and the increasing
tension and insecurity along the border in the north-west Amhara region forced the Ethiopian
government to change its position. On top of this, the exporting of political Islam by the National
Islamic Front of Sudan concerned not only Ethiopia but also other neighbours and beyond. As
such, the Ethiopian government started responding with the same old tactics of supporting the
SPLA, directly engaging in armed conflict with Sudanese forces, and forming a regional or
international alliance to at least weaken the Sudanese regime. The thesis concludes by
highlighting the limitations to the agency and aspirations of new rulers due to the historical lack
of trust and structural security conditions, and would have to respond in more realistic terms to
the regional conflict complex.
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Keywords
Conflict, Cooperation, Security, Islamic extremism, Regional powers