The Eritrean-Ethiopian Boundary Conflict: the Physical Border, the Human Border, and the Scars of History

This paper aims to analyse the casus belli of the Ethiopian-Eritrean 1998-2000 war, assessing how the past informs the present and expectations for the future. As far as the territorial dispute, it finds its roots in the colonial legacies of division of peoples and territories, and the consequent tension that built up along the border. The chapter examines the border phenomenology – a story of misunderstandings, deceptions and uncertainties – that involved two former colonial powers, Italy and the United Kingdom, the central government of Ethiopia and the rulers of Tigray, and the borderlanders, from the early beginning to the recent reconciliation between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The chapter traces back the origins of the war to the delimitation and later lack of demarcation of the boundary line, and follows its dynamics related to the changes of sovereign rights, acknowledging the political and symbolical influence of this frontier for the nation-building process. The border issue in the recent reconciliation attempt is also analysed, with further challenges ahead.