OLD PROBLEMS IN NEW CONFLICTS:
SOME OBSERVATIONS ON ERITREA AND ITS
RELATIONS WITH TIGRAY, FROM LIBERATION
STRUGGLE TO INTER-STATE WAR, a 2003 article by Richard Reid
"There can be few more sensitive or emotive subject-matters in the field
of African studies today than the attempt to explore relations between
Eritrea and Ethiopia in general, and between Eritrea and Tigray, in
northern Ethiopia, in particular..."
"The purpose of this paper is to offer some observations on a
relationship (or perhaps several contemporaneous and intertwined
relationships) between two regions, two peoples, two political movements-a
relationship (or relationships) which has (or have) defined a
huge swathe of the Hom of Africa over the last generation, and indeed
beyond. The focal point of the paper is Eritrea, its relations with, and
perceptions of, Tigray. It is not intended to be exhaustive: truly
exhaustive work on this topic could not be contained within a single
article. It represents, rather, some thoughts based on a handful of key
documents, field interviews and less 'formal' informants (deliberately
not high-ranking officials, as their views have been well-aired), and a
range of secondary literature much of which, indeed, has been so
necessarily contemporary that it can be classed as a kind of alternative
body of primary source material, certainly in terms of assessing outside
perceptions of the relationship under study. The paper will hopefully
serve to push the argument toward a synthesis of understanding..."
http://dro.dur.ac.uk/397/1/397.pdf
