The Somali Regional State of Ethiopia: History and Prospects for Development

The Somali Regional State of Ethiopia, by its very existence, demonstrates an attempt to resolve territorial disputes in the Horn of Africa over the past two decades. Ethiopia and Somalia lay claim to the territory despite the fact that it is peripheral to both nations. Nevertheless, it is located at the centre of the Somali Peninsula, at the crossroads of trade routes from the hinterland of North East Africa to seaports, at the crossroads of Christian and Islamic civilisations. The formation of the Somali Regional State was made possible after Ethiopia became a federal state in 1994, when the rights of ethnic Somalis living in the eastern part of the country were redefined. The article provides an overview of the historical background of the Ogaden and analyses the problems inherent in its being part of federal Ethiopia. The uneasy relationship between the region and the modern Ethiopian state demonstrates that ethnic federalism, in the absence of developed democratic mechanisms, generates a number of contradictions between different peoples who, under a federal system, are entitled to, or at least hope for, legitimate representation in the central government. The interest of Soviet and Russian scholars in the “Ogaden problem” was mostly limited to the Cold War period, when two states tried to resolve territorial disputes by waging war with both sides receiving military support from the Soviet Union. Nowadays the question of effectiveness of ethnic federalism within Ethiopia is more in the focus of research. In the article the author analyses the main stages of the creation of the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia and offers some ideas for future studies of the Region.