Conflicts in the Horn of Africa, the nature and origins

Since conflicts are often associated with economic and even strategic interests، they have wide influence over political and economic stability، and have several consequences which from this point affect regional stability. The horn of Africa، in comparison with its expanse and compared to other parts of the continent of Africa، has a lot of conflicts and political strife; among these are security crises، domestic crises، such as Sudan (the South and the Darfur crisis)، Somalia (conflicts since 1991 after the collapse of Mohamed Siad Barre''s government) and border tensions between these countries (Ethiopia and Eritrea، Eritrea and Djibouti، Somalia، Ethiopia، etc.) are worth mentioning. Many of these issues have sometimes lad to conflicts between these countries (Hosseini، 2009:141). Conflicts in the Horn of Africa region are not limited only to disputes between the countries of this area. Actually، the collapse of the USSR ended a period in which an international conflict governed the global system، and instead، internal conflicts، ethnic strife and secessionist conflict within these countries became dominant in the 1990s. This study sought to identify the nature of conflicts in the Horn of Africa and the process of formation of these conflicts considering the elemental factors of them. Research In this study، the findings are analyzed using a descriptive and analytical method، and data gathering is done with the library method in real and virtual (online) space. The roots of conflicts in Africa are numerous and complex، and in national and international arenas are hanging between social، cultural، political and economical parameters. Among the external factors، colonization is the factor that has fueled conflicts in Africa and particularly the Horn of Africa as a favorite region of superpowers. Creation of artificial boundaries and ethnic– racial divisions are key factors in Africa. The Cold War and the military equipment of the ruling regimes were other external factors leading to the continuing crisis which had imposed deaths، displacement and resulted in economical and human resources to be wasted. But the main root of the internal conflicts in the Horn of Africa are poverty and unpopular governments. While removing these two factors is a desired goal، there are global forces which are making this hard to achieve. The Horn of Africa، as one of the strategic areas of the world، is one of the most controversial regions on our planet. Conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia، the civil war in Somalia، Sudan secession and political instability، religious conflict between Christians and Muslims، as well as the conflict between Arabs and Africans، etc. are but a few examples of these conflicts. The nature of conflicts in the Horn of Africa can be classified into three groups: 19. Civil wars which were rooted in disputes and domestic competition and violence over power، like conflicts in Somalia. 20. Disputes arising from the separatist wars which were done for splitting the territory of a country to avoid its sovereign. Conflicts in South Sudan and conflicts with the separatist Oromo of Ethiopia21. Wars between states are formed when a country has territorial claims over another country. Such as Somalia''s claims over Ugaden in Ethiopia، and the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia. The results show that the roots and sources of conflicts in the region are numerous; however، they are divided into internal and external roots. Colonialism، political instability، territorial and border disputes، poverty and the low level of economic development، as well as the involvement of regional and extra-regional powers، obstruction and Israel''s involvement، lack of effective regional and international institutions، etc. are the elemental factors of these conflicts. On the other hand، due to the fundamental and historical problems of these countries، at the time of colonialism، and the regional conflicts after that are complex and intertwined. For example، while the Darfur conflict is an internal conflict، countries such as Chad due to ethnic and Eritrea due to political interests and ideological differences are involved in it; also trans-regional powers like America and Israel are involved in the process of intervention. Darfur''s example is a true case regarding complexities and the involvement of several parties in the conflict، as in the most conflicts of the region. The key to peace and stability in Africa is the localization of the means of dispute resolution. Organization of African Unity and the international aid agencies are not in a position to properly anticipate، identify and investigate potential conflicts in remote areas. It is important that conflict factors، which may include Economic decline، unequal distribution of resources، non-democratic political systems، weak social structures، cascading refugees، ethnic conflicts and increasing weapons be identified properly.