- Foreign relations of Ethiopia
Like many states in
sub-Saharan Africa ,Ethiopia was relatively isolated from other countries not immediately adjacent to her, until well into the 19th century. Many historians trace modern Ethiopian foreign policy to the reign of Emperor Tewodros II, whose primary concerns were the security of Ethiopia's traditional borders, obtaining technology from Europe (or modernization), and to a lesser degree Ethiopian rights to the monastery ofDar-es-Sultan in the city ofJerusalem . [The political history of the Ethiopian community, and their struggle for ownership of this small monastery, is retold in Chris Proutky, "Empress Taytu and Menelik II" (Trenton: The Red Sea Press, 1986), pp. 247-256] Tewodros' diplomatic efforts, however, ended disastrously with the British expedition of 1868 which concluded with his death. Despite the efforts of his successor Emperor Yohannes IV to establish a relationship with the United Kingdom, Ethiopia was ignored by the world powers until the opening of theSuez Canal , and more importantly theMahdist War , drew outside attention to her once more. [Although Bahru Zewde, "A History of Modern Ethiopia", second edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2001), believes that the Suez Canal brought strategic value to the Red Sea region (p. 73), Sven Rubenson, "The Survival of Ethiopian Independence" (Hollywood: Tsehai,1991) argues that only with the Mahdi War did the United Kingdom interest themselves once again in Ethiopia (pp. 283ff).]The same major interests that Tewodros had -- the security of Ethiopia's traditional borders and modernization -- were once again foremost, as demonstrated by the outcome of the
First Italo-Abyssinian War , Ethiopia's admission to theLeague of Nations (28 September 1923 ), and the 1935 Italian invasion. SinceWorld War II , it has played an active role in world andAfrican affairs. Ethiopia was acharter member of theUnited Nations and took part in UN operations inKorea in 1951 and the Congo in 1960. FormerEmperor Haile Selassie was a founder of theOrganization of African Unity (OAU).Addis Ababa is the host capital for the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the OAU.Although nominally a member of the
Non-Aligned Movement , after the 1974 revolution, Ethiopia moved into a close relationship with theSoviet Union and its allies and supported their international policies and positions until the change of government in 1991.Today, Ethiopia has very good relations with the U.S. and the West, especially in responding to regional instability and, increasingly, through economic involvement. Ethiopia's relations with
Eritrea are extremely tense due to an ongoing border dispute. Continuing instability along Ethiopia's borders withSudan andSomalia contributes to tension with theNational Islamic Front regime in Sudan and several groups in Somalia.International disputes
omalia
*Most of the southern half of the boundary with Somalia is a Provisional Administrative Line, not an international boundary
*Somaliland secessionists provide port facilities and trade ties to landlocked Ethiopia
*Territorial dispute with Somalia over theOgaden
*Although the Government of Ethiopia has allied with local clans in opposition to the Transitional National Government in the past, it currently is supporting the Transitional Government against its main rival, theIslamic Courts Union .Eritrea
*Dispute over alignment of boundary with Eritrea led to the
Eritrean-Ethiopian War (1998 - 2000), which was resolved by the 2002 independent boundary commission's delimitation decision. However, demarcation has been delayed, despite intense international intervention, by Ethiopian insistence that the decision ignored "human geography," made technical errors in the delimitation, and determined that certain disputed areas, specificallyBadme , fall to Eritrea. Eritrea meanwhile insists on not deviating from the commission's decisionudan
*Efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Sudan have been delayed by civil war
Illicit drugs
*Transit hub for
heroin originating in Southwest and Southeast Asia and destined for Europe and North America, as well ascocaine destined for markets in southern Africa.
*Cultivates qat (khat ) for local use and regional export, principally toDjibouti and Somalia.
*Lack of a well-developed financial system limits the country's usefulness as amoney-laundering centeree also
*
Ethiopian diplomatic missions
*Foreign aid to Ethiopia
*List of diplomatic missions in Ethiopia
*Ethiopia-United States relations
*Ethiopia-Pakistan relations Notes
External links
* [http://mfa.gov.et/index.php Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Ethiopia's webpage]
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