This is a much-desired and elegantly written book by Christopher Clapham, who has been an avid observer of political developments in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa for several decades. On the whole, the book deals with two things. The first is the construction of an analytical framework that explains the exceptionality of state formation processes in the Horn of Africa. The second is the examination of recent trajectories of state formation processes in the region.
The discussion of trajectories of state formation is rich with fascinating insights and details. The attempt to provide an analytical framework is, however, problematic for at least two reasons. First, the extension of Ethiopian exceptionalism and non-colonial dynamics of state formation to the whole region is not convincing. Second, the author gives geography a larger role than it warrants. The three geographical conceptions – ‘highland core’, ‘lowland periphery’ and ‘highland periphery’ – are drawn from Ethiopia: the last two frontiers, John Markakis's 2011 book on Ethiopia, and are used to expound the analytical framework. But these conceptions not only tend to be static but also have limitations in explaining internal tensions within each of the three zones.
Because of the rupture that occurred in the Ethiopian and Somali states in 1991, that year was rightly taken as a watershed for recent state formation processes. Reconstituting states after 1991 was more easily achieved in Ethiopia and Eritrea, which are still dominated by groups hailing from the ‘highland core’, whereas state building in Somalia (excepting Somaliland) has proved to be a non-starter.
In spite of the differences that prevailed between the leaderships of Ethiopia and Eritrea, both countries ventured into building illiberal states. However, in Eritrea illiberal state building has been pursued with few democratic trappings, while in Ethiopia, post-1991, state reconstruction has allowed for the representation of the country's numerous ethnic communities and the constitutionalization of democratic rights. But the type of governance that has emerged in the country is a ‘managed political order’ and has come under increasing pressure in recent years.
Clapham attributes much of the economic and political successes of Ethiopia in the post-1991 period to Meles Zenawi, the late Ethiopian prime minister whom he favourably describes as a ‘philosopher king’ and ‘a man of extraordinary intelligence’. The approach taken in this book, however, diminishes the role that political movements such as the Tigray People's Liberation Front and the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front played in engineering the post-1991 political settlement in Ethiopia. It would have also been equally important to critically appraise the records of a leader who stayed at the pinnacle of power for over twenty years.
In Somali territories, Somaliland became successful in state building due to the fact that internal actors owned the process. In contrast, externally mediated state-building projects in Somalia (or in the south-central region) spectacularly failed to produce the ‘state’.
Concerning the future of governance in the region, Clapham makes ominous predictions. He rules out the possibility of multiparty democracy and peaceful change of governments in both Ethiopia and Eritrea, but as non-democratic forms of governance have not worked well in either country, ruling out the prospect of democracy altogether is neither realistic nor desirable. Nor does he see any prospect for establishing any form of a state in Somalia. It is also difficult to see how international actors would choose to leave the country alone in the face of the continuing threat of al-Shabaab. Instead of disengagement, what is important for state/peace building in Somalia is the provision of more agency to local actors.
Clapham has written an instructive book that definitely expands our knowledge of the Horn of Africa. There are, however, some limitations. Even if he sought to provide a ‘single and coherent picture of the region’ by simplifying a lot of complex issues, it would have been important to reflect the views of the contending forces, at least regarding some of the key controversial issues. There are a few inaccuracies: non-Muslim pastoralists include the Boran-Oromo who are located in southern Ethiopia and parts of northern Kenya. The recently erected statue in Jigjiga, the capital of the Ethiopian Somali region, is of Sayid Mohammed Abdulle Hassen, not Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim. The Lega Dembi goldmine is found in the present Guji zone of the Oromia region (southern Ethiopia) not in Wollega. Hailemariam Desalegn, the current Ethiopian prime minister, served the remaining term of Meles Zenawi (from September 2012 to October 2015) as full prime minister, not as acting prime minister. These are, however, minor errors and do not by any means diminish the significance of the book, which will be of interest to a wider readership including academics, diplomats and the personnel of international organizations working in the Horn of Africa.
