Making a Borderland Governable: The Ethiopia Somaliland Frontier
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Date
2017-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Governance of frontier economic relations is considered as one of the functions of the Westphalian/Weberian state. Ethiopia had a long history of economic relations in its frontiers. Since the early 1990s, the Ethiopian state began to earnestly entrench its authority in the Ethiopia-Somaliland borderlands. This study examined the historical development, prevalent trends and prospects of economic relations and governance thereof in the Ethio-Somaliland frontier, with particular reference to the post-1991 period. The study employed the conceptual framework of frontier governmentality. In terms of research methodology, qualitative approach was employed. In this study, both primary and secondary sources of data were used.Accordingly, key informant interviewing, field research and document analysis were used to collect data. Qualitative method was used asdata analysis technique. The study identified several mechanisms of governance that the Ethiopian state instituted. As the discussion revealed, the institutional mechanisms applied have not yet achieved their purpose of making the borderland governable by the central state. Three elements are identified as impacting the weak institutional performance: lack of infrastructure, resistance by the local community and the fluidity of political status in these borderlands. This study also examined Ethiopia’s quest for port utilization in Somaliland as an experiment in the governmentalization of the frontier. Based on the empirical discussions, the study concludes thatestablishment of a centralized and territorial governance of economic relations in the Ethiopia-Somaliland borderlands is far from being completed.
Key Words: Economic Governance, Borderland, Frontier Governmentality, Ethiopia-Somaliland
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Keywords
Economic Governance, Borderland, Frontier Governmentality, Ethiopia-Somaliland