Intrastate Conflict in the Horn of Africa

This book identifies the most important sources of intra-state conflict in the individual countries of the Horn of Africa. It explores how serious the threats are to the security of the states and their people; the region; and it identifies the appropriate conflict resolution approach.

Hirbe indicates that the political marginalization and discrimination by the dominant ethnic group in power against the members of disadvantaged ethnic groups is the most important source of intra-state conflict. His findings demonstrate that the authoritarian states in the Horn of African countries are the major source of threats to individual security. Moreover, the security of the states in the region are closely interlinked; their national securities cannot be considered apart from one another.

The book notes that the realist-militaristic, zero-sum game conflict resolution approach dominates the behavior of most parties involved in intra-state conflict in the Horn of Africa. However, different conflict resolution approaches could be effective and appropriate to resolve the intra-state conflict in each individual country: the traditional bottom-up approach in Somalia, Power Sharing through the Ethnic federalism in Ethiopia, and Encouraging Good Governance in Eritrea and Djibouti.