- Collection:
- Atlanta University and Clark Atlanta University Theses and Dissertations
- Title:
- Soviety/United States behavior in the horn of Africa, 1960-1982: the impact on the Somali-Ethiopian boundary dispute, 1987
- Creator:
- Chang, David D.
- Date of Original:
- 1987-05-01
- Subject:
- Degrees, Academic
Dissertations, Academic - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
- Medium:
- theses
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- The purpose of this study is to explore the prevailing chronic and prolonged Somali-Ethiopian conflict in the Horn of Africa, using the historical descriptive method. The study had determined that the existing conflict in the Horn can be traced to the colonial legacy which indiscriminately demarcated the existing political boundaries in Africa without regard to, and knowledge of, local circumstances. The background of the conflict is not only concerned with Somalia's unflinching defiance of the post-colonial order which a majority of African states have pledged themselves to accept as the inevitable consequence of the colonial past but also it demands class and ethnic reunification of all Somali-speaking inhabitants on the basis of historical, ethnic, linguistic and cultural continuities is the phenomenon of modern Somali irredentism and cultural-nationalism in the Horn of Africa.The conflict relates to external intervention. Foreign intervention and neighbors' meddling in the area have internationalized the conflict beyond the Organization of African Unity's capacity for any foreseeable settlement. The United States and the Soviet Union are the major powers that have played significant roles in internationalizing the conflict. Others are the Arab countries with particular interests in the area. Both the United States and the Soviet Union have similar strategic, economic, ideological, political, and military interests in the Horn. However, there are also dif-ferences. The two world powers pursued similar strategies in the Horn of Africa to follow their vital national interests respectively. Both provided military aid programs in exchange for military and naval facilities; both chose to withdraw rather than use coercion when their interests and those of their clients were diverging; both considered Ethiopia and Somalia as interchangeable. There were also unique and dynamic differences between the United States and Soviet Union strategies in the Horn of Africa. The Soviet Union had attempted abortive efforts to impose its ideological influence upon Ethiopia and Somalia. It provided aid without obtaining immediate returns in anticipation of attaining what it wanted in the long-run. As long as the Soviet-U.S. ideological confrontation hovers over the Horn of Africa, the likelihood of any resolu�tion of the conflict is remote. Soviet and American behavior in the Horn are desiqned to project their respective national interests in the region.
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:1987_chang_david_d
- Rights Holder:
- Clark Atlanta University
- Holding Institution:
- Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library
- Rights:
-
