Commentary:

Response to the comentary entitled: "Graveyard Spiral in the Horn of Africa"

Whilst agreeing with you in conviction that ‘Ethiopia’s ideal strategy toward Eritrea should be "benign neglect," I am not quite sure whether responding in kind to Eritrea’s taunts would be in the long term interests of our country.

It is a great temptation to retaliate in kind. Yet retaliation, even if they could be executed ‘with maximum effect’ could not go much further than giving immediate satisfaction for sweet revenge.

Of course Ethiopia should continue to debilitate Eritrea-backed insurgent movements that are destabilising the country in the southern and eastern regions. But in so doing she should also be weary of the likely counterproductive consequences of decisive military actions, especially the dangers of alienating civilian populations in and around regions where such movements operate.

I would argue that systematic and long term socio-political and socio-economic policies that are designed to alienate armed rebels from civilian population are much more effective than policies based on military actions.

Meaningful devolution of power, transparency and accountability in local government practices, allowing public participation in consultation and implementation of policies affecting local people, and last but not least, willingness to address local grievances with fairness and efficiency can be more productive in exposing the true nature of armed rebels posing as liberation fronts.

Similarly, conducting non-interventionist foreign policy in relation to our neighbouring countries would be more rewarding land-locked Ethiopia, than one based on military intervention through organising and/or backing insurgent movements in their territories. Ethiopia need not obsess herself with power games in the hope that it would lead to having her own outlet to the sea. She should simply demonstrate to them that their ports could only be great assets to their economy by serving the needs of Ethiopia’s hinterland. What is Assab worth to Eritrea without earning hundreds of millions of dollar by handling Ethiopia’s foreign trade? Similarly, what are the comparative values of the Djibouti port to the overall Djiboutian economy before and after May 1998?

It is also interesting to note that the lesson from these questions were not lost the Somaliland authorities who have been soliciting their Ethiopian counterparts to make use of their ports.

In connection to the current state of affairs and the post conflict scenarios, you might like to read the article attached. It was written to The Monitor in response to an article that appeared in that paper: ‘The Price of Peace’ by one, Sotal (The Monitor, 29 July 1999). As far as I know, the piece has not been published (perhaps because it was not forwarded to them by Africa News on Line). The fact that it did not appear in print or in the electronic media was disappointing for me, not because it denied readers some original ideas, rather because by not reaching the public it denied me feedback on the issues discussed. So your criticisms and comments are welcome.

Sharew Tesemma