It’s not the Border Stupid!

Two of the most fundamental truisms of the modern world are ‘the sovereignty of the people’ and ‘the normalcy of social change’. Everyone, regardless of ideological persuasion and/or political affiliation, subscribes to the sanctity of “the people” and to the virtue of “social progress”. As much as there is a universal agreement on the two preambles, however, there are ferocious disagreements in the details. It seems that what constitute ‘the people’ and what govern ‘social change’ are the real points of contention of social-political discord. In the end, it appears that there is a general accord in subscribing to the same ends, yet a general discord on the means to get there. We contend that this reasoning is inherently problematic; it’s tantamount of having the cake and eating it too.

What we are proposing here is the need to systematically unpack and critically examine the so-called consensus surrounding the truisms themselves. It is ridiculous to agree on the fundamental edicts and then to go harms way over the technicalities. Such proposition misses the cardinal point of power relations and their excesses. In the end, we are left with two options, either the foundational truisms have to be challenged thereby a strong alternative can be erected or the technicalities have to constantly be reshuffled until the whole structure collapsed by its own weight. While the first option is embodied by Ethiopia, the second is incarnated by Eritrea. Ethiopia is in the process of reinvigorating itself by addressing the key issues of what constitute ‘the people’ and what define ‘social change’. Eritrea, on the other hand, opted for the second alternative. By ignoring Eritrea’s real interest and concentrating over trivial technicalities, Issayas has become the synonym of the people and their destiny. Accordingly, the rights and aspirations of the Eritrean peoples have been sacrificed on the jingoistic altar of Issayas’s ego trip, which is inadvertently the de-facto epicenter of Eritrean nationalism.

Thus, the current confrontation between Ethiopia and Eritrea should not be analyzed and understood as a point of disagreement over technicalities. Such rendition unwarrantedly reduces the whole matter into border demarcation. If we limit the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea as a mere function of a universally acknowledged cartographical disagreement, we miss the crucial point. Under such logic, the whole issue becomes a matter choice between two equally valid processes toward a predetermined universal truth. And it bestows equal credibility to both countries sharing a common border. However, when we expand our question to interrogate the conflict from the vantage point of ‘the people’ and their destiny’, we quickly realize that the border issue is exhibited for public consumption in the court of public opinion. We also come to realize that the clash is between the forces of colonial surrogates, on the one hand, and those of anti-colonial trailblazers. Is it not a fact that the entire argument and obsession of Shabia revolves around the alleged injustice over the ruling over the border demarcation?

Ethiopia’s case is profound. It directly challenges the so-called thrust of the universally acclaimed consensus itself. As far as Ethiopia is concerned, ‘the people’ and ‘social change’ are not mere abstract notions; they are instead concrete manifestations of social space and social time respectively. How can one seriously talk about democracy and development without questioning the very nature and characteristics of the peoples and their welfare? After all, is it not the unqualified abstraction of ‘the people’ and ‘social change’, which has transmogrified in the universally acclaimed yet empty notions of “democracy” and “development”? No wonder, the entire spectrum of the vocal and disgruntled opposition is enraged because hitherto marginal social groups have been integrated into the national fold without being coerced to conform to hegemonic norms.

Incidentally, if there was indeed a universal blue print of ‘democracy’ that is not subject to time and place then we would be hard press to condemn the military occupation of the confederate South by the Union. Being an African American law maker, I am sure congressman Payne agrees with W.E.B Du Bois in supporting the reconstruction period and military rule as opposed to the Jim Crow Terror regime that replaced it. Jim Crow and its institutional segregation and its hooded enforcer of lynching came to power in the guise of liberal democracy. All we are asking is for the congressman and his colleagues to look at the reality in Ethiopia not from some abstract all-size fits all theoretical vantage point but in the tradition of Du Bois from a substantively concrete one.

Ethiopia is determined to face the twenty first century with optimism. To that end, it has taken the necessary measures to transform itself from being an ethno-religious and ethno-cultural prison into a multicultural abode. Eritrea on the other hand is retrogressively fixated towards the nineteenth century, the heyday of colonialism. Instead of looking forward and clear its path to the future, Shabia is looking backward in the hope of capturing the fleeting illusion of colonial greatness. This bizarre characterization is similar of operating a forward moving vehicle by keeping the eyes in the rearview mirror. Like the eventual car crash Shabia is heading to an impending debacle.

As far as Shabia is concerned, it is contented to chisel the Eritrean polity to fit the pre-fabricated blueprint of its colonial overlord. Completely brainwashed and deluded by its colonial heritage, Shabia had proclaimed that it would be the equivalent of Singapore in terms of economy and of Israel in matters military. In its pursuit of its grandiose and unrealistic ambition, it did not take long for Shabia to realize that Aiga and Tsarora are far off from the Strait of Malacca and the shores of the Mediterranean. What does it take for Shabia to recognize the fact that the Eritrean peoples are Eritrean not mutants of alien cultures that have nothing to do with their social-historical formation or their day to day trepidations? To add insult to injury, even after its total military defeat, Shabia had not been able to re-evaluate the madness of its delusional psyche that intensified the plight of the Eritrean peoples. To the contrary, it has rededicated itself, this time with vengeful anger, to the same defunct and inoperative venture of destruction. The people were denied their human rights to mourn their loved ones and to restore their livelihood. Instead practically the whole nation is mobilized to the front and still after over a decade languishing in trenches.

As much as Shabia’s actions appear to be irrational and self-defeating, it is crucial to understand that its actions are very much in tune with its existential disposition. If a political entity believes that it is an Italian incarnation left behind among Africans, it would not take long for it to absorb all sorts of irrationalities. Neither Italian by Race nor Eritrean by spirit, Shabia is a grotesque residue of colonial schizophrenia. In the end, stuck between European normative aspiration and African existential realism, Shabia is poised to do the natural thing. That is, either to recreate a pseudo-colonial empire or commit suicide. Well, both options are surreal and irrational, yet since they are the only choice on the table, we should assist Shabia in opting for the second one. Let it commit suicide.

The peoples in Ethiopia and Eritrea alongside those in the rest of the Horn region can definitely coexist in peace and harmony. The region is big enough both in terms of cultural diversity, religious plurality, and occupational variety to entertain not only its own indigenous peoples, but also aliens from far off lands. To that end, peace and mutual respect of all by all is a prerequisite and the Ethiopian government policies in that regard should be supported and encouraged. Despite all of the negative diatribes that are crowding the print and virtual media, the majority of the people are content. Their quality of their daily lives is slowly but surely improving. By all accounts significant efforts in terms of infrastructural and educational improvements are undertaken throughout the country. Of course there are bumpy road along the way, but that does not warrant the destruction of what has been developed thus far with tremendous efforts.

The incessant irritation of the Shabia fungus has to be excised before it mutates into a potentially lethal cancerous tissue poisoning the entire Horn region.

Mehretab Assefa

May 11, 2007