Eritrea at a crossroads

“Eritrea at a Crossroads: A Narrative of Triumph, Betrayal and Hope”

Ch 15. An Avoidable War

There is no such thing as an inevitable war. If war comes it will be from failure of human wisdom. 

-Andrew B. Law 

ኪውገድ ዘይከኣል ኲናት የለን። ኲናት ካብ ፍሽለት ሰብኣዊ ልቦና ኢዩ ዚመጽእ።

– ኣንድሩ ቢ. ሎው

Post-independence issues of war and peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia are covered in Chapter 15: An Avoidable War. The chapter notes the various missed opportunities, during and after the war, to agree on the colonial treaty border and secure durable peace. It traces the slide towards an unnecessary war between former allies, the human tragedy of the deportations, the evolution and devastation of the war, and the international effort to end hostilities. 

The chapter tells the story of the unravelling of an old, pervasive and problematic relationship burdened by a difficult narrative of conquest, war and conflict, often impacted by the intricacies of shared ethnic and cultural affinity straddling a common border, and closely bound by mutual economic and strategic interests. Further, it affirms the potential of the multiple pillars of the Ethio-Eritrean relationship to serve as levers of durable political cooperation, drivers of economic integration, and anchors of regional peace and security.

ሕቶ ሰላምን ኲናትን ኣብ መንጎ ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ድሕሪ ናጽነት ኣብ ምዕራፍ 15፡-ክእለ ዚከኣል ዚነበረ ኲናት ይግለጽ። እዛ ምዕራፍ’ዚኣ ነቶም፡ ቅድምን ድሕርን እቲ ኲናት፡ ኣብቲ ብመሰረት መግዛእታዊ ውዕላት ዚተሓንጸጸ ዶብ ብምስምማዕ ነባሪ ሰላም ንምርግጋጽ ዘኽእሉ ዚነበሩ ብዙሓት ዚባኸኑ ዕድላት፡ ተዘኻኽር። ኣስዒባ፡ ነቲ ኣብ መንጎ ሰብ-ኪዳን-ነበር ናብ ዘየድሊ ኲናት ገጹ ዚኸይድ ዚነበረ ሸታሕታሕ፣ ነቲ ሰብኣዊ ትራጀዲ ናይቶም ጥርዝያታት፣ ነቲ ኣመዓባብላን ዕንወትን ናይቲ ኲናት፣ ነቲ ተጻብኦታት ንምቍራጽ ዚተኻየደ ኣህጕራዊ ጻዕርታት፣ ትዝርዝር።

 እዛ ምዕራፍ’ዚኣ ንዛንታ ምብትታን ናይቲ ብውጡር ታሪኽ ናይ ወራር፡ ኲናትን ግጭትን ዚልለ፣ ጥንታዊ፡ ኵሉ-ተንከፍን ግድላውን፣ ሓሓሊፉ በቲ ኣብ ወሰናስን ናይቲ ናይ ሓባር ዶብ ዚተዘርግሐ፡ ዚተወሳሰበ ሓባራዊ ነገዳውን ባህላውን ምትእስሳር ዚጽሎ፣ ብናይ ቀረባ ሓባራዊ ቍጠባውን ስትራተጅያውን ረብሓታት ዚተኣሳሰር፣ ዝምድና ተዘንቱ። ብተወሳኺ፡ እቶም ብዙሓት ኣዕኑድ ዝምድና ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን፡ ከም ውሻላት ናይ ነባሪ ፖለቲካዊ ምትሕግጋዝ፡ ደረኽቲ ቍጠባዊ ውህደትን መልሕቕ ዞባዊ ሰላምን ጸጥታን፡ ንምግልጋል ዘለዎም ተኽእሎ ተረጋግጽ።