Eritrea at a crossroads

The page below is available in English and Tigrinya.
Eritrea as a nation waged a hard struggle and made enormous sacrifices for the liberation, reconstruction and development of the country and the freedom, progress and prosperity of the people. It is thus very painful to witness, and quite unbearable to admit, that things have gone awry in independent Eritrea. However, there exists no viable alternative to confronting and striving to change this unpalatable reality.

What went wrong and why? How can it be rectified?

Eritrea at a Crossroads: A Narrative of Triumph, Betrayal and Hope traces the historical evolution of Eritrea from pre-colonial times to post independence. It attempts to locate Eritrea in its historical and geopolitical context, contributing to a better grasp of the ‘root causes and key drivers’ of the status quo and the challenges facing democratic State reconstitution. Furthermore, it aspires to provide the basis for an objective understanding of the current state of affairs and point the way forward.

At the same time, www.eri-platform.org serves as a forum for greater outreach via informed, inclusive dialogue towards national reconstitution and revival. In this context, the objective of serialising Eritrea at a Crossroads, in the form of short chapter summaries, is to convey the essence of the work. This aims to stimulate a deeper interest in the narrative as a whole and encourage engagement, commentary and feedback.

In facilitating group sessions, seminars, conferences and online discussions, the overarching goal is to stimulate constructive dialogue, grounded on basic knowledge of the salient features of modern Eritrean history and a common understanding of the current situation in the country. This would help cultivate a shared vision of a State of Eritrea based on constitutional order and democratic principles, committed to the rule of law and respect for human rights. The ultimate purpose is to contribute to a realignment of the present reality with the original ideals that powered the struggle for self-determination: freedom, justice, democracy and prosperity for all.
ኤርትራ ከም ሃገር፡ ምእንቲ ሓርነት፡ዳግመ-ህንጸትን ልምዓትን ሃገር፣ ናጽነት፡ ግስጋሴን ራህዋን ህዝቢ፣ ብርቱዕ ቃልሲ ኣካይዳ፣ ከቢድ መስዋእቲ ከፊላ። ክንድ ዚዀነ፡ ኣብ ናጻ ኤርትራ እቲ መበገሲ ዕላማ ሸቶኡ ስሒቱ ክትርኢ ኣዝዩ ኣሳቓዪ፣ ክትእመነሉ ድማ ብሓቂ ዘይጽወር ኢዩ። ይዅን’ምበር፡ ብዘይካ ነዚ ዘይቅቡል ክዉንነት’ዚ ምግጣምን ንኽትቅይር ምጽዓርን ካልእ ዜዋጽእ ኣማራጺ የለን።

እንታይ ጌጋ ኢዩ ተፈጺሙ፧ ስለምንታይ፧ ብኸመይ ከ ኪዕረ ይከኣል፧ 

ኤርትራ ኣብ ቃራና መንገዲ - ታሪኽ ዓወት: ጥልመትን ተስፋን፣ ንድፊ ኣሰር ታሪኻዊ ኣመዓባብላ ኤርትራ: ካብ ቅድመ-መግዛእታዊ መዋእል ክሳብ ድሕሪ ናጽነት፡ ተትሕዝ። ንኤርትራ ግቡእ ታሪኻውን ጀኦፖለቲካውን ቦታኣ ንምትሓዝ ብምሕላን፣ ንዚበለጸ መረዳእታ ናይቲ ‘መሰረታዊ ጠንቅታትን ቀንዲ ደራኺ ረቛሒታትን’ ናይቲ ህሉው ኵነትን ንደሞክራስያዊ ዳግመ-ድኰና መንግስቲ ዘጋጥሙ ብድሆታትን: ተበርክት። ብተወሳኺ፡ ሰረት ውድዓዊ መረዳእታ ናይቲ ህሉው ኵነታት ከተንጽፍ፣ መኣዝን መጻኢ ጕዕዞ ኪትሕብር ትፍትን።

ጐድኒ ንጐድኒ ምስ’ዚ፡ www.eri-platform.org ከም መድረኽ ናይ ዚሰፍሐ ዝርጋሐ ርጡብ ኣሳታፊ ልዝብ ንሃገራዊ ዳግመ-ድኰናን ተሃድሶን ተገልግል። ብመንጽር’ዚ፡ ዕላማ ተርታዊ ኣቀራርባ ነፍሲ ወከፍ ምዕራፍ፡ ብመልክዕ ሓጺር ጽማቝ፡ እንታይነት ወይ ፍረ-ነገር ናይታ መጽሓፍ ንምእማት ኢዩ። እዚ ድማ፡ ዚዓመቘ ተገዳስነት ኣብቲ ዛንታ ብዓቢኡ ንምድራኽን፣ ጽምዶ፡ ሓተታን ርእይቶን ንምትብባዕን ይሕልን።

እቲ ኣጠቓላሊ ዕላማ ምስላጥ ጕጅላዊ ኣኼባታት: ሰሚናራት: ዋዕላታትን ክትዓት መርበብ ሓበሬታ ኢንተርነትን፣ ኣብ መባእታዊ ፍልጠት ናይቲ ቀንዲ መዳያት ዘመናዊ ታሪኽ ኤርትራን ሓባራዊ መረዳእታ ህሉው ኵነታት’ታ ሃገርን ዚተመርኰሰ ሃናጺ ዘተ ንምድራኽ ኢዩ። እዚ ድማ: ሓባራዊ ራእይ ናይ ሓንቲ ኣብ ቅዋማዊ ስርዓትን ደሞክራስያዊ መትከላትን ዚተመስረተት: ግዝኣተ-ሕጊ እትኽተልን ሰብኣዊ መሰላት እተኽብርን: ሃገረ ኤርትራ ንምዅስኳስ ኢዩ። እቲ ናይ መወዳእታ ሸቶ: ነቲ ህሉው ክዉንነት ሃገርና ምስቲ ነቲ ምእንቲ መሰል ርእሰ-ውሳኔ ዚተኻየደ ቃልሲ ዚዓንገለ መበቈላዊ ዕላማታት - ሓርነት: ፍትሒ: ደሞክራስን ራህዋን ንዅሉ - ኣብ ምትኽኻል ኣበርክቶ ንምግባር ኢዩ። 

“Eritrea at a Crossroads: A Narrative of Triumph, Betrayal and Hope”

The chapter summaries below are available in English and Tigrinya.

Press Release: Eritrea at a Crossroads (2014)

ጋዜጣዊ መግለጺ: ኤርትራ ኣብ ቃራና መንገዲ (2020)

Foreword by Glenys Kinnock

መእተዊ ብ ግለኒስ ኪኖክ

Preface

መቕድም

About the Author

ብዛዕባ ደራሲ

Ch 1. Introduction

ምዕራፍ 1. መላለዪ

Ch 2. The Making of Eritrea

ምዕራፍ 2. ኣደዃዅና ኤርትራ

Ch 3. A Plan to Dismember Eritrea

ምዕራፍ 3. ውጥን ንምቍርራጽ ኤርትራ

Ch 4. European to African Colonialism

ምዕራፍ 4. ስግግር ካብ ኤውሮጳዊ ናብ ኣፍሪቃዊ መግዛእቲ

Ch 5. The Struggle for Self Determination

ምዕራፍ 5. ጽንኩር ቃልሲ ንርእሰ-ውሳኔ

Ch 6. State Construction & Development

ምዕራፍ 6. ህንጸት መንግስትን ልምዓትን

Ch 7. Self-Reliance & the Coupon Economy

ምዕራፍ 7. ርእሰ-ምርኰሳን ናይ ኩፖን ቍጠባን

Ch 8. Scourge of Indefinite National Service

ምዕራፍ 8. ሓለንጊ ደረት-ኣልቦ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት

Ch 9. Resort to Force as a Default Mode

ምዕራፍ 9. ዝውታረ ሓይሊ ከም ልሙድ ኣገባብ

Ch 10. The Disconnect Between Policy & Practice

ምዕራፍ 10. ዘይቃዶ ሜላን ግብርን

Ch 11. The African State in Crisis

ምዕራፍ 11. ኣፍሪቃዊ መንግስቲ ኣብ ቅልውላው

Ch 12. Eritrea: The Future of Africa That Works

ምዕራፍ 12. ኤርትራ - መርኣያ ትስፉው መጻኢ ኣፍሪቃ

Ch 13. Engaging the Eritrean Diaspora

ምዕራፍ 13. ጽምዶ ኤርትራዊ ዳያስፖራ

Ch 14. In the Service of Eritrea

ምዕራፍ 14. ኣብ ኣገልግሎት ኤርትራ

Ch 15. An Avoidable War

ምዕራፍ 15. ኪውገድ ዚከኣል ዚነበረ ኲናት

Ch 16. An Uneasy Truce

ምዕራፍ 16. ርቡጽ ስምምዕ ምቍራጽ ተዅሲ

Ch 17. Securing the Peace Between Eritrea and Ethiopia

ምዕራፍ 17. ምርግጋጽ ሰላም ኣብ መንጎ ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን

Ch 18. We Didn't Do It For This!

ምዕራፍ 18. ምእንት’ዚ ኣይተቓለስናን!

Ch 1. Introduction

Ch 2. The Making of Eritrea

2.1 The Land and the People
2.2 A Glimpse at Pre-Colonial History
2.3 Advent of Italian Colonial Rule
2.4 The Colonial Legacy
2.5 Fall of Italian Colonial Rule

Ch 3. The Plan to Dismember Eritrea

3.1 British Military Occupation
3.2 The British Partition Plan
3.3 British Policy of Destabilisation
3.4 British Pillage of Eritrea
3.5 Imperial Ethiopian Interference
3.6 Eritrean Aspirations for Freedom
3.7 Formation of Political Parties
3.8 British Intrigues and Ethiopian Subversion

Ch 4. Transition from European to African Colonialism

4.1 Maritime Access as a Pillar of Cooperation
4.2 The Geopolitical Setting
4.3 Federation of Eritrea with Ethiopia
4.4 Abrogation of the Federation

Ch 5. The Arduous Struggle for Self-Determination

5.1 The Right to Self-Determination in International Law
5.2 The Dialectics of Repression and Resistance
5.3 Armed Struggle as Political Resistance
5.4 Choosing between Bad and Worse
5.5 A New Shift in the Military Balance
5.6 Solidarity Amidst Isolation
5.7 Eritrea Independent at Last

Ch 6. State Construction and State Development

6.1 Essential Policy Instruments
6.2 A Unitary Eritrean State
6.3 Land and Internal Mobility
6.4 A Secular Eritrean State
6.5 A United Eritrean State
6.6 A Democratic Eritrean State
6.7 Gender Equality
6.8 A Developmental Eritrean State

Ch 7. Self-Reliance and the Coupon Economy

7.1 Imprudent Policy Responses
7.2 Self-Reliance as a Euphemism for Isolation
7.3 Foreign Policy as an Extension of Self-Reliance
7.4 Eritrea-US Relations
7.5 Eritrea-EU Cooperation
7.6 The Shame of the Coupon Economy
7.7 A Contracting Economy in Crisis

Ch 8.The Scourge of Indefinite National Service

8.1 Voluntary versus Forced Service
8.2 Proclamation of National Service
8.3 Erosion of Legitimacy
8.4 The waste of Student Summer Work Camps
8.5 Linking Infrastructure to Development
8.6 Opportunity Cost of National Service
8.7 The Silent Crisis of Mass Exodus
8.8 Open-Ended National Service

Ch 9. Resort to Force as a Default Mode

9.1 Force as an Arbiter of Discord
9.2 The Historical Setting
9.3 The Confrontation
9.4 Detention to Suppress Dissent
9.5 Concentration of Power

Ch 10. Disconnect Between Policy and Practice

10.1 Establishing a Constitutional State
10.2 Building a Democratic System of Government
10.3 Instituting Participatory Politics
10.4 Ensuring Gender Equality
10.5 Constructing a Secular state
10.6 Constituting a Developmental State
10.7 Divergent Policy and Practice

Ch 11. The African State in Crisis

11.1 Snafus of Africa’s Development
11.2 The African Nation-State as a European Graft
11.3 A Dysfunctional Predatory State
11.4 Challenges of the African State
11.5 A State in Crisis

Ch 12. Eritrea: The Future of Africa that Works?

12.1 The Colonial Narrative
12.2 The Eritrean Narrative
12.3 The Eritrean Counter-Narrative
12.4 Eritrea: The Future of Africa that Works!
12.5 Golden Opportunity to Blaze a New trail
12.6 False Hopes and Thwarted Expectations
12.7 A Prototype Authoritarian State

Ch 13.Engaging the Eritrean Diaspora

13.1 The Evolution of the Eritrean Diaspora
13.2 The Diaspora as a Global Player
13.3 The Eritrean Diaspora as a National Actor
13.4 A Diaspora in Search of Engagement

Ch 14. In the Service of Eritrea

14.1 The Formative Years
14.2 Dedication to the Eritrean Cause
14.3 Revitalising the University of Asmera
14.4 Building a Functional Central Bank

Ch 15. An Avoidable War

15.1 An Amicable Divorce
15.2 Missed Opportunities
15.3 Allies at War
15.4 The Deportations
15.5 The Evolution of the War

Ch 16. An Uneasy Truce

16.1 Implementing the Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities
16.2 Humanitarian Mine Action
16.3 Pending Operational Issues

Ch 17. Securing the Peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia

17.1 Delimitation of the Boundary
17.2 Virtual Demarcation of the Boundary
17.3 Imperative of Durable Peace

Ch 18. We Did Not Do It For This!

18.1 So Much for So Little!
18.2 Serenading in the Past
18.3 On a Personal Note
18.4 Crossing the Rubicon
18.5 Towards a Functional State

ክፋል ሓደ (ቀዳማይ ክፋል)

ምዕራፍ 1. መላለዪ

ምዕራፍ 2. ኣደዃዅና ኤርትራ

2.1 መሬትን ህዝብን
2.2 ቈላሕታ ኣብ ቅድመ-መግዛእታዊ ታሪኽ
2.3 ምጽኣት ኢጣልያዊ መግዛእታዊ ግዝኣት
2.4 መግዛእታዊ ውርሻ
2.5 ውድቀት ኢጣልያዊ መግዛእታዊ ግዝኣት

ምዕራፍ 3. ውጥን ምጕዝዛይ ኤርትራ

3.1 ብሪጣንያዊ ወተሃደራዊ ጐበጣ
3.2 ብሪጣንያዊ ውጥን ምምቃል
3.3 ብሪጣንያዊ ሜላ ናይ ምንዋጽ
3.4 ብሪጣንያዊ ዝምታ ኤርትራ
3.5 ሃጸያዊ ኢትዮጵያዊ ጣልቃነት
3.6 ኤርትራዊ ሃረርታ ንሓርነት
3.7 ምቛም ፖለቲካዊ ሰልፍታት
3.8 ብሪጣንያዊ ውዲታትን ኢትዮጵያዊ ሽርሕን

ምዕራፍ 4. ምስግጋር ካብ ኤውሮጳዊ ናብ ኣፍሪቃዊ መግዛእቲ

4.1 ኣፍደገ ባሕሪ ከም ሓደ ዓንዲ ምትሕግጋዝ
4.2 እቲ ጀኦፖለቲካዊ ኣሰራርዓ
4.3 ፈደረሽን ኤርትራ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ
4.4 ስረዛ ፈደረሽን

ምዕራፍ 5. ጽንኩር ቃልሲ ንመሰል ርእሰ-ውሳኔ

5.1 መሰል ንርእሰ-ውሳኔ ኣብ ኣህጕራዊ ሕጊ
5.2 መጐት ጭቈናን ተቓውሞን
5.3 ብረታዊ ቃልሲ ከም ፖለቲካዊ ተቓውሞ
5.4 ምምራጽ ኣብ መንጎ ሕማቕን ዚሓመቐን
5.5 ሓድሽ ለውጢ ኣብ ወተሃደራዊ ሚዛን
5.6 ምሕዝነት ኣብ ማእከል ተነጽሎ
5.7 ኤርትራ፡ ናጻ ኣብ መወዳእታ

ምዕራፍ 6. ህንጸት መንግስትን ልምዓትን

6.1 ኣድለይቲ ሜላዊ መሳርሒታት
6.2 ኣሃዳዊት ሃገረ ኤርትራ
6.3 መሬትን ውሽጣዊ ተንቀሳቐስነትን
6.4 ዓለማዊት ሃገረ ኤርትራ
6.5 ስምርቲ ሃገረ ኤርትራ
6.6 ደሞክራስያዊት ሃገረ ኤርትራ
6.7 ጾታዊ ማዕርነት
6.8 ልምዓታዊት ሃገረ ኤርትራ

ምዕራፍ 7. ርእሰ-ምርኰሳን ናይ ኩፖን ቍጠባን

7.1 ዘይጥቁው ሜላዊ መልሰ-ግብሪታት
7.2 ርእሰ-ምርኰሳ ከም ቃለ-ሽፋን ንተነጽሎ
7.3 ግዳማዊ ሜላ ከም መለቀምታ ናይ ርእሰ-ምርኰሳ
7.4 ዝምድና ኤርትራን ሕቡራት መንግስታት ኣመሪካን
7.5 ምትሕግጋዝ ኤርትራን ኤውሮጳዊ ሕብረትን
7.6 ውርደት ናይ ኩፖን ቍጠባ
7.7 እናቘንጸበ ዚኸይድ ቍጠባ ኣብ ቅልውላው

ምዕራፍ 8. ሓለንጊ ደረት-ኣልቦ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት

8.1 ወለንታዊ ብመንጽር ግዱድ ኣገልግሎት
8.2 ኣዋጅ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት
8.3 ምብሕጓግ ግቡእነት
8.4 ብኽነት መደብ ክረምታዊ ማእቶት ተመሃሮ
8.5 ምትእስሳር ትሕተቅርጽን ልምዓትን
8.6 ኣምሳያ ዋጋ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት
8.7 ‘ድምጺ-ኣልቦ ቅልውላው’ ጃምላዊ ፍልሰት
8.8 ደረት-ኣልቦ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት

ምዕራፍ 9. ዝውታረ ሓይሊ ከም ልሙድ ኣሰራርሓ

9.1 ሓይሊ ከም ኣተዓራቒ ናይ ዘይምስምማዕ
9.2 እቲ ታሪኻዊ ኣመጻጽኣ
9.3 እቲ ምትፍናን
9.4 ቀይዲ ተቓውሞ ንምድቋስ
9.5 ምግባት ስልጣን

ክፋል ክልተ (ካልኣይ ክፋል)

ምዕራፍ 10. ፍልልይ ኣብ መንጎ ሜላን ግብርን

10.1 ምምስራት ቅዋማዊት ሃገር
10.2 ምህናጽ ደሞክራስያዊ ስርዓት መንግስቲ
10.3 ምስራት ኣሳታፊ ፖለቲካ
10.4 ምርግጋጽ ጾታዊ ማዕርነት
10.5 ምህናጽ ዓለማዊት ሃገር
10.6 ምስራት ልምዓታዊት ሃገር
10.7 ዚተረሓሓቐ ሜላን ግብርን

ምዕራፍ 11. ኣፍሪቃዊት ሃገር ኣብ ቅልውላው

11.1 ማሕለኻታት ምዕባለ ኣፍሪቃ
11.2 ኣፍሪቃዊ ሃገረ-መንግስቲ ከም ኤውሮጳዊ ላቔባ
11.3 ብልሽታዊ ዓመጸኛ መንግስቲ
11.4 ብድሆታት ኣፍሪቃዊ መንግስቲ
11.5 ሃገር ኣብ ቅልውላው

ምዕራፍ 12. ኤርትራ - መርኣያ ትስፉው መጻኢ ኣፍሪቃ፧

12.1 መግዛእታዊ ትረኻ
12.2 ኤርትራዊ ትረኻ
12.3 ኤርትራዊ ተጻይ ትረኻ
12.4 ኤርትራ - መርኣያ ትስፉው መጻኢ ኣፍሪቃ፧
12.5 ወርቃዊ ዕድል ሓድሽ መንገዲ ንምጽራግ
12.6 ኣጕል ተስፋን ዚተዀልፈ ትጽቢታትን
12.7 መርኣያ መላኺ መንግስቲ

ምዕራፍ 13. ተሳትፎ ኤርትራዊ ዳያስፖራ

13.1 ኣመዓባብላ ኤርትራዊ ዳያስፖራ
13.2 ዳያስፖራ ከም ዓለምለኻዊ ተዋሳኢ
13.3 ኤርትራዊ ዳያስፖራ ከም ሃገራዊ ተዋሳኢ
13.4 ዳያስፖራ ኣብ ምንዳይ ጽምዶ

ምዕራፍ 14. ኣብ ኣገልግሎት ኤርትራ

14.1 እተን ሃነጽቲ ዓመታት
14.2 ወፈያ ንጕዳይ ኤርትራ
14.3 ዳግመ-ምሕዋይ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ኣስመራ
14.4 ምህናጽ ተግባራዊ ማእከላይ ባንክ

ምዕራፍ 15. ክእለ ዚከኣል ዚነበረ ኲናት

15.1 ስኒታዊ ፍትሕ
15.2 ዚባኸነ ዕድላት
15.3 ሰብ ኪዳን ኣብ ኲናት
15.4 እቶም ጥርዝያታት
15.5 ኣመዓባብላ ናይቲ ኲናት

ምዕራፍ 16. ርቡጽ ስምምዕ ምቍራጽ ተዅሲ

16.1 ምትግባር ስምምዕ ምቍራጽ ተጻብኦታት
16.2 ሰብኣዊ ምእላይ ነተጕቲ
16.3 ውንዙፍ ስርሒታዊ ጕዳያት

ምዕራፍ 17. ምውሓስ ሰላም ኣብ መንጎ ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን

17.1 ምድራት ዶብ
17.2 ግብራዊ ምኽላል ዶብ
17.3 ኣድላይነት ነባሪ ሰላም

ምዕራፍ 18. ምእንት’ዚ ኣይተቓለስናን!

18.1 ኣዝዩ ብዙሕ ንኣመና ውሑድ!
18.2 ብናይ ሕሉፍ ምዝናይ
18.3 ብሕታዊ መግለጺ
18.4 ዘይምለስ ምስጋር
18.5 ተግባራዊ መንግስቲ ንምህናጽ