Ethiopia and Eritrea : the quest for peace and normalizations

Abstract

The border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea was concluded in 2000 with the signing of the Algiers agreement. Under the Algiers agreement, the two parties established a border commission to delimit and demarcate the borderline In April 2002; the commission delivered its delimitation decision. However, 6 years after the commission’s decision was delivered, the conflict between the two countries is not yet settled. Tensions between the two countries are still high and the possibility for another round of violence is within reach. This thesis, first and fore most, attempts to find out explanations why the overall peace process was not able to bring an end to the conflict in general and to the border incompatibility in particular. Secondly, it attempts to air the silenced views of the local people living along the disputed boundary. By doing so, this thesis argues that the Ethiopian and Eritrean boundary is inhabited by two closely related people and any solution to end the currently prevailing deadlock and resolve the border disagreement needs to be done with the participation and consultation of the local people. Any solution that will be imposed on the local people is likely to face resistance, undermining the sustainability of the peace that could be achieved.