War and conflict have been the most common and ages old incidents in the history of mankind. While changing features, extents … etc groups and countries went to war and conflict against each other. When some countries engage in war, it is normal others can intervene and help reconcile or strike peace deal.
Peacekeeping is also a noble undertaking by countries and regional or global organizations that are part and parcel of the political and legal system in the world. Despite risks of losing life and property contingents are deployed to help realize peace in troubled areas.
This is order of the day in our present world. Especially under the umbrella and framework of the United Nations, African Union and other collaborating regional bloc countries have been contributing their armies or defense forces to participate in peacekeeping activities.
As such Ethiopia has been one of the best examples of countries for their exemplary contributions in peacekeeping since the 1950s. It has also been a vibrant participant in initiatives of reinstating government and peace in Somalia which was left with no central government since the 1990s.
Its contribution in peace in Somalia has been acknowledged by Somalia’s, Africans and the global community. It still maintains active contrition in ensuring peace and stability in Somalia as part of the African Union Mission in the country.
However, due to the political misunderstandings that unfolded between the two countries, Somalia has all of a sudden requested that it doesn’t accept Ethiopian army deployment as part of the peace keeping mission. On the contrary Egypot has requested to participate in the mission replacing Ethiopia which is accepted by Somalia and is causing suspicion as to the real aim of Egypt’s unprecedented quest to be part of the mission.
Hegemony on the Horn of Africa as practiced by those who have always attempted to weaken Ethiopia is performed by a triangulation of military and political forces that are under the pay of political forces. The politics and diplomacy in peace keeping has now become congruent with the interests of some western powers who wish to use puppet regimes in peace keeping to once again asserting their political diktat by all means including military encirclement. Somalia has now become a melting point of terrorism further complicating the efforts of hegemonic powers who pose as peace keepers while in fact their actions are vividly leading to a total war which could destroy the statehood of country.
The quest for peace keeping on the Horn as expressed by Egypt is only a sugar coated manifestation of hegemony in the region. This will certainly have further implications not only for Ethiopia but for Egypt as well because Egyptian political forces that have lost ground due to the usurpation of state power by former military leaders will not sit on the fence but also try to exploit the situation for their own purpose. On the other hand, The Egyptian economy cannot buttress the hegemonic desires of the government and this is forcing the expansionists to opt for a second degree proxy war on Ethiopia by mobilizing and arming groups who wish to take power by force in Ethiopia.
It must be noted that hegemonic intervention by Egypt in countries like Libya and to a certain degree in Sudan, Mali and Niger has resulted in the destabilization in the entire Sahel region making the area a breeding ground of terrorist forces.
The political and diplomatic situation in the Horn of Africa is rapidly changing by days with interesting twists and turns. The hegemonic activities on the Horn of Africa are a new form of neo-colonialism which is openly being finance by global big pockets that wish to keep the region in their own sphere of influence.
Ethiopia’s face of with Somalia cannot be punctuated only in terms of the issue of securing ports. Ethiopia is trying to establish an economic community of the countries of the Horn of Africa which has not been palatable to western powers who wish to keep the area in poverty by using food aid as an ivy treatment for crisis ridden economies in the region. They do not tolerate economic integration and mutual support among countries of the Horn of Africa and that is why they are ready to destabilize the region through their “trusted partner.”
The neo-colonial mentality induced Egyptian desire for hegemony not only targets Ethiopia’s efforts to use her natural resources but also fragmenting the country by supporting armed groups who are being used as a Trojan Horse for the destabilization of the country.
The current emotion ridden stance by the Somali Government is putting it at loggerheads with the states that make up the federal government and a total crisis seems to be in the making.
What could the federal government do at this point in time? The author thinks that the Ethiopian government could handle the case in deeper patience and diplomatic ingenuity.
On the other hand, the government needs to debrief the public on what exactly is going on save the national security information that may not be disclosed for practical purposes.
Moreover, in a world with seems to be guided by the credo of might is right, Ethiopia needs to further develop her military power to deter any attempt to trample with the national interest of the country. Citizens and overseas particularly the youth need to support government efforts to settle internal disputes with dialogue and refrain from bad language and misinformation on the social media.
At this point in time, the government needs to ensure that all development programs in the country are being conducted based on the national plan. The people of Ethiopia need to effectively support the ENDF in all aspects because the army is shouldering greater responsibilities in striving to ensure the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. The symbiotic alliance between terrorism and hegemonism in the Horn of Africa will collapse over time.
BY SOLOMOND DIBABA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2024
