Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU International Conference on African Center for African Development Policy Development Archives Research 8-2007 Towards Resolving the Ethiopia-Somalia Disputes Daniel Kendie Prairie View A&M University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/africancenter_icad_archive Part of the African Studies Commons, and the Economics Commons WMU ScholarWorks Citation Kendie, Daniel, "Towards Resolving the Ethiopia-Somalia Disputes" (2007). International Conference on African Development Archives. 104. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/africancenter_icad_archive/104 This Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for African Development Policy Research at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Conference on African Development Archives by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact wmu-
[email protected]. 1 Towards Resolving the Ethiopia-Somalia Disputes Daniel D. Kendie, P.hD Abstract: Prairie View A&M University The 46-year-old dispute between Ethiopia and Somalia has been commonly called a “border dispute.” Contrary to that description, it may be more appropriate to portray it as a dispute that has been driven principally by economic interests and by the effort to control scarce resources. Among these interests and resources are the following: the struggle for water wells and fresh grazing pastures for nomads; the insecurity Somalia feels about the Juba and the Wabi Shibeli rivers, as their sources are in Ethiopia; the discovery of gas and oil in the Ogaden; Somalia’s challenging geographic shape that makes communication between the north and the south cumbersome in transport terms, in the sense that a road through the Ogaden could reduce the distance by 50%; and Ethiopia’s long standing trade needs for outlets to the sea through Somalia's Indian Ocean ports.