Conflict in the Horn of Africa

The Kenya-Somalia Border Problem 19412014

By (author) Vincent Bakpetu Thompson

Publication date:

09 February 2015

Length of book:

422 pages

Publisher

UPA

ISBN-13: 9780761865278

Conflict in the Horn of Africa examines how the Kenya-Somalia border problem has deep roots in pre-colonial and colonial times mirroring the phenomenon of shifting territorial and human frontiers and treaties which Britain, France, Italy, and Ethiopia made before and after World Wars I and II. This book documents the Kenya-Somalia border problem from the nineteenth century, when decisions ignored African concerns, to independence, when Africans acted as the principal players. Vincent Bakpetu Thompson analyses how the crises regarding Kenya and Somalia’s domestic situations impacted their international relations in and beyond the region. This book furthers the discussion by looking at the current problems in the region that are obscured by instability, infiltrations, the repetitive influx of refugees crossing and re-crossing the border, and increasing terrorist attacks.

List of Tables and Maps
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I
Chapter 1. The Foundations of Somali Irredentism 1895–1960
Part II
Chapter 2. Preliminaries: Domestic Policy and Diplomacy 1960–1963
Chapter 3. Commissions for Kenya and Their Aftermath 1962–1963
Chapter 4. The Shifta Episode: The Problem Unfolds 1963–1969
Part III
Chapter 5. Peace or War: Post-Shifta Period 1969–1977
Chapter 6. Kenya, The Ogaden War and International Relations 1977–1978
Part IV
Chapter 7. Kenya-Somalia Relations Since the Ogaden War 1978–2014
Chapter 8. Summary and Implications: The Way Ahead
Appendix I
Appendix II
Appendix III
Abbreviations
Notes on Terms
Bibliography

Thompson has revised and updated to 2014 his doctoral dissertation of 1984 to 'contribute to an understanding of the international relations of two African states and the wider international implications of the conflict.' What is portrayed by Somalis as a territorial and human rights dispute concerning the irredentist aspirations of their ethnic kin in Kenya's Northern Frontier District is defined by Kenya as a border disagreement involving security, stability, and migrants. The author narrates and analyzes this polarization of positions in detail and includes a vast amount of information about the internal politics of both Kenya and Somalia. He also discusses the important role of Ethiopia with its own Somali population and that of the Organization of African Unity, now the African Union, struggling diplomatically with the sensitive issue of established colonial boundaries.