A few weeks ago, on a trip to Egypt, Yemane Gebreab, Political Adviser to the President of Eritrea, expressed support for Egypt’s position regarding the Nile.1 Many commentators decried Eritrea’s intervention as needless provocative and purposeless, apart from aggravating Ethiopia.
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article46276 ↩
Two decades ago, as Eritrea’s decades long war for independence was nearing its close, Thomas Keneally, the noted Australian novelist wrote about Eritrea, “you are a threat of a good example!” Have Eritrea’s efforts reversed so sharply?
Mahmood Mamdani in a paper discussing citizenship and South Sudan uses Eritrea as evidence. Unfortunately his evidence is deeply flawed, and although it does not fundamentally alter the basis of his conclusions, they show tremendous oversight on his part. Of course, his contention regarding unity is critical, “Anyone interested in creating unity must recognise the importance of politics and persuasion … “1
Every once in a while a slip up at NPR riles me up. The other day, on Talk of the Nation, it Neal Conan slipped up, immediately followed by his guest, Princeton Lyman (Special Envoy to South Sudan, US). Specifically Neal stated, “We saw Eritrea break away from Ethiopia some years ago, now, South Sudan breaking away from Sudan.” The implication here of course is that Eritrea and Ethiopia were one country and that Eritrea split away.