Unraveling the Political Motives of Eritrea in the Tigray Conflict

Noverino Faiz Adi Muhammad, Galvin Hapsari Putri, Dhika Fadhlan Aulia, Septyanto Galan Prakoso
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25077/ajis.13.1.19-30.2024

Abstract

Eritrea is one of the countries that has a significant influence in the Horn of Africa. In maintaining its influence and achieving its national interest, Eritrea has enrolled itself in the Tigray War. Participating in the Tigray War would drive themselves to be the regional superior in the Horns of Africa. This research will focus on how Eritrea's political motives in the Tigray War affected the achievement of its interests. This study will use the national interest concept and geopolitical theory to analyze the formulation of the problem that has been described. These theoretical frameworks will be suitable as these theoretical frameworks will be able to explain Eritrea’s national interest in the African Region. This research will also use qualitative methods and literature study data collection techniques. The results of this study suggest that Eritrea has political motives to be able to escape its international isolation status and become a regional superior in the Horn of Africa region. Eritrea also wants to expand its influence in Ethiopian domestic politics and avenge itself on the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) through its involvement in the Tigray war. Eritrea used a hawkish approach offensively in its involvement in the Tigray conflict.

Full Text:

PDF

References

Aljazeera and News Agencies (2021) Ethiopia PM Admits Eritrean Soldiers Entered Tigray Region, News: Human Rights. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/23/ethiopia-pm-abiy-ahmed-says-atrocities-committed-in-tigray (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Aljazeera and News Agencies (2022) Ethiopia Peace Deal Hailed as a ‘New Dawn’, News. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/3/how-did-the-world-react-to-the-ethiopia-peace-deal (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Allo, A. (2018) Ethiopia-Eritrea Conflict, 20 Years on: Brothers Still at War, Al Jazeera. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2018/5/6/ethiopia-eritrea-conflict-20-years-on-brothers-still-at-war/ (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Amnesty International (2023) Ethiopia: Eritrean Soldiers Committed War Crimes and Possible Crimes Against Humanity after Signing of Agreement to End Hostilities. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/09/eritrean-soldiers-committed-war-crimes-and-possible-crimes-against-humanity-in-the-tigray-region-after-signing-of-agreement-to-end-hostilities/.

Anna, C. (2022) Ethiopia Asserts Government got ‘100%’ in Tigray Peace Deal, Town and country Today: Politics. Available at: https://www.townandcountrytoday.com/politics/ethiopia-asserts-government-got-100-in-tigray-peace-deal-6048189 (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

BBC News (2021) Ethiopia’s Tigray war : The Short, Medium and Long story, BBC News: Africa. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54964378 (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Bereketeab, R. (2019) The Ethiopia-Eritrea Rapprochement. Nordic Africa Institute. Available at: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1313153/FULLTEXT02.pdf.

Bruton, B. (2018) Ethiopia and Eritrea Have a Common Enemy, Foreign Policy: Argument. Available at: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/07/12/ethiopia-and-eritrea-have-a-common-enemy-abiy-ahmed-isaias-afwerki-badme-peace-tplf-eprdf/ (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Clare, J. (2014) ‘Hawks, Doves, and International Cooperation’, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 58(7), pp. 1311–1337. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24545624.

CNN Editorial Research (2023) Tigray War Fast Facts, CNN: World. Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/11/world/tigray-war-fast-facts/index.html (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Creswell, J.W. and Guetterman, T.C. (2019) Educational Research: Planning, Conducting and Evaluating Quantititative and Qualitative Research. 6th edn. Edited by C. Schweitzer. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Demissie, A.A. (2023) Navigating the Regionalization of Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict How Regional and International Actors Can Help Consolidate Peace. Available at: https://doi.org/10.55317/9781784135744.

Europe External Programme with Africa (2021) Eritrean Involvement in the Conflict in Tigray EEPA Special Briefing. Available at: https://www.eepa.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Voices-From-Tigray-Special-Briefing-Webinar-Voices-from-Tigray.pdf.

Harter, F. (2023) Unresolved Status of Western Tigray Threatens Ethiopia’s Peace Deal, The New Humanitarian: East Africa, Ethiopia. Available at: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2023/09/26/unresolved-status-western-tigray-ethiopia-peace-deal (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Hou, L. and Liu, Y. (2019) ‘The Evolving Concept of Lebensraum in Political Geography’, Progress in Geography Journal, 38(5), pp. 637–647. Available at: https://doi.org/10.18306/dlkxjz.2019.05.002.

Houreld, K., Georgy, M. and Aloisi, S. (2021) How Ethnic Killings Exploded from an Ethiopian town, Reuters: Special Report. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/ethiopia-conflict-expulsions/ (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Human Rights Watch (2021) Ethiopia: Eritrean Forces Massacre Tigray Civilians, Human Rights Watch: News. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/03/05/ethiopia-eritrean-forces-massacre-tigray-civilians (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

International Crisis Group (2022) A Call to Action: Averting Atrocities in Ethiopia’s Tigray War. Available at: https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2081120/ethiopia-tigray-20x22.pdf.

Al Jazeera and News Agencies (2022) Two Years of Ethiopia’s Tigray Conflict: A Timeline, News: Conflict. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/10/two-years-of-ethiopias-tigray-conflict-a-timeline (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Kelly, R.C. and Schmitt, K.R. (2023) Inflation Hawk: Dovish and Hawkish Monetary Policy Explained, Investopedia: Monetary Policy, Interest Rates. Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hawk.asp (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Kurtz, G. (2023) ‘Sustaining Peace in Ethiopia’, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, (14), pp. 1–8. Available at: https://doi.org/10.18449/2023C14.

LP2M Admin (2020) Qualitative Research Methods – Objectives, Characteristics and Strategies, LP2M Universitas Medan Area. Available at: https://lp2m.uma.ac.id/2020/11/21/qualitative-research-methods-objectives-characteristics-and-strategies/ (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Metea, I.-G. (2020) ‘National Interest, Terminology and Directions of Approach’, International Conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION, 26(1), pp. 75–79. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2478/kbo-2020-0011.

MFA’s Directorate for Sub-Saharan Africa (2017) Country of Origin Information Report on Eritrea. Available at: https://www.government.nl/binaries/government/documenten/reports/2017/02/06/country-of-origin-report-on-eritrea-february-2017/COI+Eritrea+2017.pdf.

Morello, C. (2018) U.N. Lifts Sanctions on Eritrea, Ending Nation’s Decade of International Isolation, The Washington Post: National Security. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/un-lifts-sanctions-on-eritrea-ending-nations-decade-of-international-isolation/2018/11/14/dd4c7e14-e825-11e8-bbdb-72fdbf9d4fed_story.html (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Müller, T.R. (2016) ‘Representing Eritrea: geopolitics and narratives of oppression’, Review of African Political Economy, 43(150), pp. 658–667. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2015.1111201.

Munene, M. (2022) Geopolitical Dynamics in the Horn of Africa Region, HORN Bulletin. HORN Institute. Available at: https://horninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/HORN-Bulletin-Vol-V-Iss-I-January-February-2022.pdf.

Omer, M.K. (2023) Are Ethiopia and Eritrea on the Path to War?, Analysis. Available at: https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/11/07/ethiopia-eritrea-war-tplf/ (Accessed: 20 August 2024).

Paravicini, B.G. and Houreld, K. (2021) EXCLUSIVE UN Official Accuses Eritrean Forces of Deliberately Starving Tigray, Reuters: Africa. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/exclusive-un-official-accuses-eritrean-forces-deliberately-starving-tigray-2021-06-11/ (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Plaut, M. (2022) Text of Today’s Peace Agreement Between The Ethiopian Government and Tigray Administration Signed in South Africa, Martin Plaut: Africa, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Horn of Africa. Available at: https://martinplaut.com/2022/11/02/text-of-todays-peace-agreement-between-the-ethiopian-government-and-tigray-administration-signed-in-south-africa/ (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Reid, R. (2022) Eritrea is Involved in Tigray to Boose Its Statute. Why the Strategy could Backfire, The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/eritrea-is-involved-in-tigray-to-boost-its-stature-why-the-strategy-could-backfire-175591 (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Schipani, A. (2023) Ethiopia Seeks Help to Find $20bn for Post-Conflict econstruction, Ethiopia. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/cdd73748-58f3-41d4-add1-cd563372c6de (Accessed: 20 August 2024).

Setiani, I. and Suleiman, Z. (2021) ‘Kepemimpinan Perdana Menteri Etiopia Abiy Ahmed dalam Mewujudkan Perdamaian Etiopia dan Eritrea’, Sriwijaya Journal of International Relations, 1(2), pp. 20–36. Available at: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.47753/sjir.v1i2.57.

Stogiannos, A. (2019) The Genesis of Geopolitics and Friedrich Ratzel. Available at: http://www.springer.com/series/15611.

Tadesse, A.G. (2020) Timeline: Ethiopia’s Tigray Conflict, AA: Africa. Available at: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/timeline-ethiopia-s-tigray-conflict/2065351 (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

United Nations News (2022) Ethiopia: Peace Agreement between Government and Tigray ‘A Critical First Step’: Guterres, Un News: Peace and Security. Available at: https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/11/1130137 (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Zelalem, Z. (2020) Survivors Recount Horrific Details of Mai Kadra Massacre, Aljazeera: News, Refugees. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/12/survivors-recount-horrific-details-of-mai-kadra-massacre (Accessed: 18 February 2024).

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.