The Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict and the 2018 agreement: an analysis based on foreign policy changes

• Grant number: 20/13028-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2021
• End date: December 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - International Politics
• Principal Investigator: Sérgio Luiz Cruz Aguilar
• Grantee: Caroline Feire de Aquino
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências (FFC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Marília. Marília , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia has gone through several phases over the years. The implementation of a flawed peace treaty that inflamed the issues claimed has prolonged the struggle for the first 18 years of the 21st century. The elaboration of the agreed actions was made impossible by the stormy relationship between their political leaderships, involving the entire region in a kind of Cold War without peace or effective resolution. In 2018, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, with positive internal dynamics and regional prestige, was able to renew Ethiopia's position on the outstanding issues of the Algiers Agreement and ensure space for communication between the two countries in order to resolve the conflict with Eritrea. The understanding of the relationship between these states, the motivations of the conflicts and the policies arising from the disagreements are presented with the objective of understanding the root of the disturbances capable of disarticulating the entire Horn of Africa region for over 30 years. The fundamental purpose is to understand how Ethiopia's changing foreign policy stance was able to intervene in the conflict, resulting in the signing of the treaty. To achieve this, research will be carried out through the analysis of the war and the Treaty of Algiers, as well as the verification of the factors that prevented the resolution, and through the Foreign Policy Analysis, the peace process guided by the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, will be studied. (AU)