Burdened by the Past and Stranded in the Present. The Weight of History in the Relations Between Eritrea and Ethiopia

Twenty years after the end of the 1998–2000 conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia we still need to develop a better understanding of those events based on a critical assessment of the political history of the region. This chapter attempts to contribute toward a deeper involvement of historians and historiography in the understanding of this conflict. I argue that, though the 1998–2000 conflict bears obvious elements of specificity related to contemporary regional and international politics, important elements of understanding can be retrieved through a broader retrospective gaze focusing on the way social, economic and cultural interactions have moulded regional politics. Dynamic interrelations, together with elements of rivalry and antagonism, have layered through time, shaping the nature of the present relationship between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Those elements of rivalry and even antagonism should not be interpreted in mechanical terms as necessary causes for the recent conflict but rather as successive layers of tension and uneasiness that within given geopolitical balances (or unbalances) of powers could prevail over peaceful interactions and provide a platform for conflicting relations.