Ethiopia, Somalia, and the Ogaden: Still a Running Sore at the Heart of the Horn of Africa

1. 1.

   Englebert and Hummel (2005).

2. 2.

   See Hoehne (2018) in this volume; I am also grateful for his comments on an earlier draft of this chapter.

3. 3.

   See Schomerus and de Vries (2018) in this volume.

4. 4.

   See Diaz and Dorman (2018) in this volume.

5. 5.

   Gebru Tareke (2000).

6. 6.

   The term “Ogaden,” usually associated with the period of British Military Administration during and after World War II, was historically ill-defined, referring roughly to the central areas of the current Ethiopian Somali Region, but importantly excluding the Haud grazing areas, along its north-eastern border with Somaliland and Puntland, and (apparently) some other non-Ogaadeeni-inhabited areas to the north and south. Following common convention, I use “Ogaden” to refer to the territory, and “Ogaadeen” or “Ogaadeeni” of the clan or its members. Somali orthography is not followed, with names rendered in forms in which they are commonly found in English.

7. 7.

   Gebru Tareke (2009) and de Waal (2009).

8. 8.

   It goes, almost without saying, that this makes the grail of “objective, analytical and balanced” discussion of this issue particularly fraught. With accounts seen to be “Somali-influenced” regularly dismissed in Addis Ababa, and vice versa, there is little or no consensus on what is “reasonable.” An Ethiopian interlocutor recently told me ruefully that “reading your work gave me a stomachache.” I can only regret—very much—that this chapter may have the same effect on some readers, including a number of those who have been generous with their time and ideas over the years.

9. 9.
10. 10.

    The social media storm which erupted in early September 2017 over the Somali Government’s handover to Ethiopia of Abdikarim Sheikh Muse, a key ONLF leader who had been living in Mogadishu, is a case in point. Ogaden secessionism may not be as prominent as it was in the minds of Somali nationalists, but sensitivities over the perceived “betrayal” of its principles remain extremely deep. This is alluded to again below.

11. 11.

    Mayall and Simpson (1992: 10).

12. 12.

    Mayall and Simpson (1992: 22).

13. 13.

    Huntington (1996), Prunier (2009), Ostebo (2009), Hansen (2009), all in Hansen, Mesoy, and Kardas (eds) (2009).

14. 14.

    Hagmann (2014: 13) and Hagmann and Korf (2012).

15. 15.

    Hess (1964: 415).

16. 16.

    “Left-handed” in Amharic and Somali.

17. 17.
18. 18.
19. 19.
20. 20.
21. 21.

    Bahru Zewde (1991: 119).

22. 22.

    Lewis (2002: 59).

23. 23.

    I am grateful to Markus Hoehne for noting that the contemporary Ogaadeen credentials of Mohammed Abdilleh Hassen, who had a complicated relationship with his paternal clan, and of the Dervish movement overall should not be overstated, with prominent involvement of Dhulbahante and other groups, who moved east and north after defeat. Cf. Samatar, S. (1982: 99ff), and Sheikh-Abdi (1993). Subsequent nationalist reworking, meanwhile, does not always reflect this historical nuance.

24. 24.

    Hess (1964: 433).

25. 25.

    Barnes (2000: 117).

26. 26.

    Ibid.: 166.

27. 27.

    Ibid.: 16.

28. 28.
29. 29.

    Bahru Zewde (1991) and Barnes (2000).

30. 30.

    Barnes (2000: 1).

31. 31.
32. 32.
33. 33.
34. 34.

    Barnes (2000: 173).

35. 35.

    Notably against Warsangeeli and Dhulbahante.

36. 36.

    Barnes (2000: 174).

37. 37.
38. 38.
39. 39.
40. 40.
41. 41.

    Hagmann (2014: 16) citing Tibebe (1991: 23).

42. 42.
43. 43.
44. 44.

    Markakis (1987) and Legum (1963: 505).

45. 45.

    Markakis (1987) Markakis also mentions a second organization, the Ogaden Company for Trade and Industry that emerged around the same time (2011): “in reality a clandestine group lobbying for Ogaadeeni self-determination” Hagman (2014: 16), drawing on Schroeder (1998).

46. 46.
47. 47.

    Gebru Tareke (1991).

48. 48.

    Ottaway and Ottaway (1978: 92ff).

49. 49.

    “Committee” in Amharic: shorthand for Provisional Military Administrative Committee.

50. 50.

    Markakis (2011: 210).

51. 51.

    Gebru Tareke (2000: 340).

52. 52.

    Gebru Tareke (2000: 641).

53. 53.

    Gebru Tareke (2000: 638).

54. 54.

    Gebru Tareke (2000: 607).

55. 55.

    Interviews Addis Ababa and Jijiga (2009, 2010, 2017).

56. 56.

    Gebru Tareke (2002).

57. 57.

    “Ringworm” in Amharic: designed to consume the insurgents as ringworm consumes human hair.

58. 58.

    Markakis (2011: 213).

59. 59.
60. 60.

    Markakis (2011: 306).

61. 61.

    Interviews, London and Addis Ababa (2009).

62. 62.

    Interview, regional analyst, Nairobi (2009).

63. 63.
64. 64.

    Markakis (2011: 309).

65. 65.

    Neighboring Oromia also claimed it; Dire Dawa thus remains a city under federal charter, with the positions of Mayor and senior members of the administration revolving between representatives of the two groups.

66. 66.

    See UN (2003) and Samatar (2004).

67. 67.

    Markakis (2011: 310) and Hagmann (2005).

68. 68.

    Interviews, Addis Ababa, London (2009).

69. 69.

    Samatar (2004), Bryden (1995), and Hagmann (2005).

70. 70.
71. 71.

    Markakis (1997: 567).

72. 72.

    Perouse de Montclos (2000).

73. 73.

    Marchal writes: “Set up in 1983 by the merger of four groups, it already had developed due to the mobilization of the Somali diaspora and its ideological agenda was reshaped by the internal conditions in Somalia […] and the growing influence of Salafi ideology, due to the involvement of many migrants established in the Gulf who generously funded the movement” Marchal (2009: 5).

74. 74.
75. 75.

    Counter Terrorism Centre at West Point (n.d.: 43).

76. 76.

    It is reported that the bodies of a number of foreign fighters, with passports, were discovered in this operation.

77. 77.

    Interviews, Addis Ababa, London, and Jijiga (2009).

78. 78.

    Interviews, Addis Ababa, Harar (2009).

79. 79.

    Interview, London (2009).

80. 80.

    Human Rights Watch (2008).

81. 81.

    Khalif and Doornbos (2002).

82. 82.

    Hagmann and Korf (2012).

83. 83.

    Two other non-Ogaadeen SPDP politicians of this generation remain ministers at the federal level.

84. 84.

    This chapter does not discuss the influential role of the large, articulate, and influential Ogaadeeni diaspora on this conflict. Hagmann (2014) notes that it has become divided between pro- and anti-government blocs, and over its attitude to the potential for peaceful political settlement.

85. 85.

    Human Rights Watch (2008).

86. 86.

    In February 2009, it was mentioned in connection with the detention of two Italian nuns who had been kidnapped in El Waq in November 2008 Corriere della Sera (2009). UWSLF, ONLF, et al. (2008).

87. 87.

    Interviews, UWSLF representatives, Jijiga, Addis Ababa (2009, 2011).

88. 88.

    Interviews, Jijiga, Addis Ababa (2017).

89. 89.

    Interviews, Addis Ababa, London; Hagmann (2014).

90. 90.

    Since January 2017, the SNRS government has been embroiled in a series of violent border clashes with neighboring Oromia. Many of the flashpoints are longstanding areas of controversy, not resolved under a series of border referenda held in October 2004.

91. 91.

    Garowe Online (2010).

92. 92.
93. 93.
94. 94.
95. 95.
96. 96.

    Interviews, Addis Ababa, Nairobi 2011, 2017; Hagmann (2014: 53–4).

97. 97.

    Mayall, J. and Simpson, M. (1992).

98. 98.
99. 99.
100. 100.

     Hagmann has made a similar point about the multiple levels of interests in play during the Ogaden war in the late 1970s (2014: 18).

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Authors and Affiliations

1. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

   Sarah Vaughan

Editors and Affiliations

1. Wageningen University & Research, De Bilt, Utrecht, The Netherlands

   Lotje de Vries

2. Pomona College, Claremont, CA, USA

   Pierre Englebert

3. Overseas Development Institute, London, UK

   Mareike Schomerus