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An Analysis of the Afar-Somali Conflict in Ethiopia and Djibouti

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An Analysis of the Afar-Somali Conflict in Ethiopia and Djibouti Regional Dynamics of Inter-ethnic Conflicts in the Horn of Africa: An Analysis of the Afar-Somali Conflict in Ethiopia and Djibouti DISSERTATION ZUR ERLANGUNG DER GRADES DES DOKTORS DER PHILOSOPHIE DER UNIVERSTÄT HAMBURG VORGELEGT VON YASIN MOHAMMED YASIN from Assab, Ethiopia HAMBURG 2010 ii Regional Dynamics of Inter-ethnic Conflicts in the Horn of Africa: An Analysis of the Afar-Somali Conflict in Ethiopia and Djibouti by Yasin Mohammed Yasin Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree PHILOSOPHIAE DOCTOR (POLITICAL SCIENCE) in the FACULITY OF BUSINESS, ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES at the UNIVERSITY OF HAMBURG Supervisors Prof. Dr. Cord Jakobeit Prof. Dr. Rainer Tetzlaff HAMBURG 15 December 2010 iii Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank my doctoral fathers Prof. Dr. Cord Jakobeit and Prof. Dr. Rainer Tetzlaff for their critical comments and kindly encouragement that made it possible for me to complete this PhD project. Particularly, Prof. Jakobeit’s invaluable assistance whenever I needed and his academic follow-up enabled me to carry out the work successfully. I therefore ask Prof. Dr. Cord Jakobeit to accept my sincere thanks. I am also grateful to Prof. Dr. Klaus Mummenhoff and the association, Verein zur Förderung äthiopischer Schüler und Studenten e. V., Osnabruck , for the enthusiastic morale and financial support offered to me in my stay in Hamburg as well as during routine travels between Addis and Hamburg. I also owe much to Dr. Wolbert Smidt for his friendly and academic guidance throughout the research and writing of this dissertation. Special thanks are reserved to the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Hamburg and the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) that provided me comfortable environment during my research work in Hamburg. I shall also record my gratitude and deep appreciation to scholars and doctoral candidates at the GIGA for their critical and constructive comments during regular doctoral colloquium sessions. Without the financial support of a generous grant from the French Centre for Ethiopian Studies (CFEE) in Addis Abeba, it would have been impossible for me to undertake the most crucial field trips in various regions within Ethiopia. Hence special thanks go to successive directors of CFEE, Gerard Prunier, Francois-Xavier Fauvelle and the incumbent director Dr. Eloi Ficquet. I am also grateful to Afar National Democratic Party and Afar region capacity building bureau for the necessary funding I have received from both esteemed offices. My greatest thanks are also due to Prof. Dr. Stefan Brüne, advisor of IGAD Secretariat for offering me internship position in Djibouti, IGAD head office while researching Eritrio-Djibouti border dispute in August-October 2008. I have also greatly profited from the documentation centre of IGAD/CEWARN unit in Addis Abeba as well as useful discussions with Mr. Raymond M. Kitevu and Mrs. Mebrate Woldetensaie, Laison officer and research and training officer respectively. I am also indebted to Dr. Ulrich Müller-Schöll and his kind wife Simone Kopfmüller, GTZ advisor for Peace and Security Department of the African Union, for their prompt and wonderful support offered to me every time I needed. I am also grateful to several people whose ideas on ethnicity, divided ethnic groups and ethnic conflicts are of tremendous value. Among those quite a number of discussions with the prominent scholar John Markakis both in Addis and during the conference held in Halle/Saale, Germany in 2006 was vital in writing the proposal of this work. During the conference entitled ‘ Divided They Stand: the Affordance of State Borders in the Horn of Africa ’, held in the Max-Plank Institute for Social Anthropology, I benefited more from deep theoretical and empirical analysis on the conceptions of identity and conflict from outstanding scholars including the director, Günther Schlee, Christopher Clapham, Dereje Feyissa and Markus Höhne. I remain grateful as well for the opportunity to participate at the 16th International conference of Ethiopian Studies held in Trondheim, Norway in 2007, which inspired me with various ideas to assess the work in vast perspective. iv I want to extend heart-felt thank to all my interviewees who allowed me to share their sincere view on various subjects included in this study. I have also benefited greatly from Rediate Moges who read the whole draft and made a number of useful suggestions particularly in editing the language of this document. Last but not least I am deeply grateful and owe a special debt of gratitude to my family and good friends in Ethiopia and abroad for their invaluable support in every aspect. Indeed without their morale and material support I would not have been able to carry out the work. Thank you all!! Hamburg, May 05, 2010 v Contents Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... iii Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ix Acronyms and Glossary ................................................................................................................... x List of Tables and Boxes ............................................................................................................... xii List of Figures and Maps .............................................................................................................. xiii Chapter One ................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1 Introduction ........................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.1 Sources and Research Methodology ............................. Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.1.1 Aim and Scope of the Research ................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.1.2 Purpose Statement ...................................................................................................... 3 1.1.3 Objective of the Research ........................................................................................... 7 1.1.4 Research Questions and Hypothesis ........................................................................... 8 1.1.5 Research Design and Methodology ............................................................................ 9 1.1.5.1 Research Design ................................................................................................ 9 1.1.5.2 Data collection Instruments ............................................................................... 9 1.2 Significance of the Research ......................................................................................... 10 1.3 Limitations and Problem Encountered .......................................................................... 11 1.4 Structure of the Study ................................................................................................... 11 Chapter Two ................................................................................................................................... 14 2 Theoretical Frameworks and Empirical Literature Review ................................................... 14 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Theoretical Definitions of Conflict ............................................................................... 14 2.3 Concepts and Definitions of Ethnic Group, Ethnicity and Ethnic Conflict .................. 17 2.4 Key Theories and Concepts of Ethnic Conflict Resolution .......................................... 25 Chapter Three ................................................................................................................................. 31 3 Backgrounds of the Study Area, the People and the Conflict ............................................... 31 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 31 3.2 The Research Area ........................................................................................................ 38 3.2.1 Physical Setting ........................................................................................................ 39 3.2.1.1 The Afar and Somali Regions in Ethiopia ....................................................... 39 3.2.1.2 The Republic of Djibouti ................................................................................. 40 3.2.2 Geo-Political Significance ........................................................................................ 42 3.2.2.1 The Afar and Somali Regions in Ethiopia ....................................................... 42 3.2.2.2 The Republic of Djibouti ................................................................................. 43 3.3 Socio-economic and Political Settings of the People .................................................... 45 3.3.1 The Afar.................................................................................................................... 46 vi 3.3.1.1 Etymology of Afar ........................................................................................... 46 3.3.1.2 Mobility and Settlement Patterns of the Afar .................................................. 47 3.3.1.3 Socio- economic settings
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