As Ethiopia has deeper political, social and economic ties with countries in the Horn, its internal issues need to be seen in terms of their wider regional implications, scholars say advising stakeholders to be careful in dealing with such issues.
Dr. Belete Belachew, political philosopher and senior researcher at Dialogue and Cooperative Research Center tells The Ethiopian Herald that Ethiopia is a major player in the turbulent Horn as it is relatively bigger in terms of population size, geography, natural resources, and military power, etc.
“Ethiopia has also become the biggest economy in the region in terms of GDP taking the position of Kenya two to three years ago,” he says.
Whenever there is relative peace and stability internally, Ethiopia influences the region positively. For instance, it has been playing a constructive role in the effort to restoring stability in South Sudan and Somalia. “Besides deploying and supporting other peacekeeping forces, it allowed sizable Somali pastoral to enter the country and access fodder and grazing land for their cattle population.”
Ethiopia
has a positive relationship with its neighbors Kenya, Eritrea, Djibouti,
Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan. With an economic
booming, one would expect for the
people-to-people relations with these countries to thrive, particularly
considering the fact that they are separated by artificial boundaries. Hence,
Ethiopia’s peace and stability has a central place in forming strong economic
ties in the region, Belete says.
“World superpowers also recognize Ethiopia’s role as they opt to use the country as a gateway to the horn instead of contacting each country individually. This is also another demonstration of the fact that the country has a key role to play in the region.”
The reverse scenario is the case whenever there is disorder in Ethiopia that it negatively affects peace and stability in neighboring countries. “As there are identical ethnic groups in Ethiopia and neighboring countries, there is always a strong tie. This is also an additional factor in making the country the most important regional player.”
While some countries, due to their strategic geographic location seem to attract the attention of world superpowers and be the epicenter of regional politics, Ethiopia excels with its multidimensional strategic importance as to him.
Some countries have the will to become regional superpowers in the north and eastern part of Africa and exert regional influence due to many factors, says Belete. “But, because of two decades of work, countries in the horn have a positive view of Ethiopia. Egypt has also recognized that working with Ethiopia is imperative.”
Seconding Dr. Belete’s opinion, Assistance Professor of Political Philosophy at Gonder University Sisay Asemre says Ethiopia is the most influential country in the Horn of Africa. Hence, it has to be cautious about maintaining its internal stability as it has bigger regional implications.
On the other hand, the horn of Africa is exposed to terrorism and cross-border crimes which can be explained in terms of religious extremism and differences in political ideology, Sisay says.
Ethiopia is a country which is striving to widen the political platform, ensure freedom of speech, and respect rule of law through undertaking overall reform.
“Right now the Ethiopian government stands at crossroads: one which takes to democracy and the other to dictatorship. What happens here will have regional implications.”
In order to sustain its positive regional influence, the Ethiopian government must ensure the rule of law and, justice, cultivate democratic culture and build strong democratic institutions internally. The fate of the country should not rely on individuals but institutions, he adds.
The public is also expected to claim its rights and discharge its responsibilities in a good manner by considering the implications of Ethiopia’s internal affairs beyond its borders.
Regional and international institutions, as well as superpowers, should also strongly support the process. “We recently heard good news from the Embassy of USA that it is ready to expose the diaspora who are disseminating hate speech among Ethiopians.”
The Ethiopian Herald July 25/2019
BY GIRMACHEW GASHAW
