Ethiopia and Eritrea: Allergic to Persuasion

Briefing Paper
Sally Healy and Martin Plaut, January 2007

Six years after they signed a peace agreement in Algiers, Ethiopia and Eritrea continue their confrontation. Ethiopia won't accept the ruling of the Boundary Commission. Eritrea won't negotiate. Tensions rise in Somalia as Ethiopia and Eritrea back different sides.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea, UNMEE, struggles to maintain a presence in the border area, its activities restricted and its exit strategy blocked. Major UN and US initiatives fail. The Border Commission resorts to a virtual boundary demarcation.
This briefing paper charts the undermining of the Algiers Agreement by its two signatories. It examines the differing approaches of Ethiopia and Eritrea to diplomacy and the challenges that this poses for the international community - the United Nations, the United States, the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) - in trying to achieve lasting peace between these two new and highly antagonistic neighbours.