Conflict in the Neo-Colonial Order in Africa: The Case of Ethiopia-Tigray.

• Author: Demirtas, Tunc

Introduction

Ethiopia, which has more than eighty ethnic identities in the country, has conflicted with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in Tigray for the past year. In the Tigray region, where approximately 7 million people live, the TPLF is one of the country's oldest and most influential actors. The TPLF, an influential separatist group in the Tigray region nowadays, has also caused problems in the country's political history. The TPLF, which struggled with Haile Selassie from 1930 to 1974, started to fight with Mengistu Haile Mariam while he ruled the country from 1974-1991 and now has begun to conflict with Abiy Ahmed from 2020-2022. These three periods mentioned have had different forms of government but with major similarities, including the constituencies from which they were drawn and their policies towards minority groups and neighboring states. The Ethiopian public opinion believes that evaluating the Ethiopian-Tigray conflict regarding Abiy Ahmed would be a delusion.

Ethiopia has a federal management approach. The elections, which were scheduled for August 2020 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were held independently in September 2020 in the Tigray region without following the government's decision. Furthermore, this situation caused the crisis to escalate to the dimension of civil war. In response to the TPLF's action, the Abiy Ahmed government annulled the elections, and the tension in the country escalated. According to the Federal Constitution in Ethiopia, which has a parliamentary and federal system divided into states depending on ethnicity, TPLF members and supporters state that in the parliament seats should be equally shared among ethnic groups rather than a population-based ratio in the distribution.

The study analyzes the process by considering the Abiy Ahmed period. The study states that the indirect involvement of global and regional powers in the fight against Tigray in Ethiopia destabilizes Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa and complicates the problems of global and regional power competition in Ethiopia. Concurrently, the study seeks an answer to the assumptions that the interventions of external actors in the conflict in Ethiopia may negatively affect Ethiopia's regional policies and relations with neighboring countries.

The study employed case analysis and process tracking methods. These methods offer the chance to test the arguments in research on the foreign policy choice of states. The process tracking method is one of the methods used in this study because it establishes a cause-effect relationship between the concepts, such as the actions and expectations of the states. While the presence of neo-colonialism and instability in Ethiopia has been used as the dependent variable in the study, the policies of global and regional actors were used as independent variables.

Neo-Colonialism in the 21st Century?

Although it is stated that colonialism ended after the colonial period in Africa, the current post-colonial period can be expressed as the neo-colonial period or colonialism 2.0 period. The concept of neo-colonialism, defined as the indirect control of underdeveloped countries by developed countries, was used to express the continuing dependence of former colonial countries on foreign countries in the post-Second World War period. The meaning of neo-colonialism has expanded to be applied generally. However, to understand neo-colonialism more clearly today, the concepts of imperialism and colonialism need to be explained. In general, colonialism refers to the direct rule, control, and exploitation of another country by one country; imperialism means the economic, political, and cultural rule and exploitation of another country or region. Neo-colonialism, on the other hand, refers to how a government controls and exploits other countries even after the end of colonialism.

The concept of imperialism forms the basis of colonialism and neo-colonialism. The theory, practice, and behavior of sovereign countries that govern geography far from a country's mainland can be defined as imperialism. (1) However, imperialism is also defined as the process or policy of establishing an empire. (2) On the other hand, according to Lenin, imperialism is defined as the way strong states obtain resources such as labor and raw materials from weak ones. (3) Lenin describes imperialism as the last stage of capitalism, shown in global market monopoly, in which states try to use national economic and political power to protect state enterprises from competing with their foreign rivals. (4) Nevertheless, there are two forms of imperialism: the relative sphere of informal economic control and the absolute realm of regional power or colonialism. (5) In this context, colonialism emerged as a result of imperialism. (6)

The difference between these concepts is the different forms of influence of the colonial country over other countries in general. Colonialism encompasses countries under their control, while imperialism can provide a wider sphere of influence. Neo-colonialism is generally effective in economic fields, through which it tries to indirectly control other countries. In short, neo-colonialism relies on the dominance of the global economic system to ensure political, economic, and cultural control of countries. This includes a process by which rich countries manipulate other countries in their interests by lending, trading, investing, or transferring technology.

Indeed, colonialism emerges as the direct political control of sovereign nations over weaker states. European colonialism in Africa in the past is an example of this situation. The 1885 Berlin Conference established a set of guidelines for the purchase and control of African lands. Although colonialism was declared illegitimate by the United Nations in the 1960s, imperialism continues today in various ways. The new form of imperialism, "liberal imperialism," has taken its place in international politics, arguing that less qualified people can never advance without the influence of more qualified people. (7) However, when the pre-colonial period in Africa is examined, it is already known that prosperity, diversity, and cultural differences existed historically. (8)

Neo-colonialism is a further development of capitalism that allows nations and corporations to dominate nations by utilizing international capitalism rather than through direct rule. Today, neo-colonialism has come to be seen as involving a coordinated effort by ex-colonial powers and other developed countries to curb growth in developing countries and to keep those countries supply of cheap raw materials and labor sources. (9)

The continuous control of sovereign nations over institutionally weak states after the decolonization process of Africa stands out as the beginning of the concept of neo-colonialism. This situation explains not only the permanent control of former colonial actors over Africa but also the political and economic efforts for the presence of new actors on the continent. Neo-colonialism provides the economy and policy from abroad, although the target state is theoretically independent. (10) Neo-colonialism is replacing its former form. However, the approaches used in neo-colonialism are seen as more diverse, secretive, and resistant than colonialism. Neo-colonialism in Africa thoroughly permeates the economic and political systems of the continent's states. This situation causes non-continental actors to be exposed to accusations of neo-colonialism in Africa. The exposure of African states with a colonial past to neo-colonial interventions prevented these countries' economic growth and political, social, and technological development.

In the post-colonial era, governments in sovereign African countries are aware of their mandate to make laws, administer public services, control the governance process, and cooperate with different actors of the international system. However, states faced with neo-colonialism are also aware that they do not have adequate power over economic development, especially national development. Therefore, with the influence of neo-colonialism, it is understood by the continental countries that there is no question of complete independence in terms of economy.

The neo-colonial process was first carried out by actors with a colonial past, such as the UK, France, and Italy, European powers competing for African hegemony. Later, global actors such as the U.S., China, Russia, and regional actors such as India, UAE, and Saudi Arabia started to participate actively in the geopolitical landscape of Africa. Currently, most of the non-continental actors in Africa are implementing conservative policies. In other words, Africa is expected to remain weak by maintaining its current position in the global system. However, the concepts of 'peace', 'freedom' and 'modernization' African peoples accepted from the West were consciously tied to conditions that perpetuated slavery. Therefore, eliminating these problems in the short term is not possible in the current conjuncture.

The Ethiopian-Tigray Issue: A Proxy War in the Shadow of Neo-Colonialism

The history of Ethiopia's independent and organized structure, one of the most ancient civilizations in the world, dates back to the Axum Kingdom, which was founded in the 1st century. When the Axum Kingdom reached its most expansive borders, it covered today's Northern Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the part of Yemen located on the coast of the Red Sea in the Arabian Peninsula. (11) Named Ethiopia in the 4th century, the Kingdom maintained its independence from 1936 to 1941, except for five years when the Italians occupied it. Ethiopia, surrounded by Djibouti and Somalia in the East, Sudan, and Eritrea in the North, South Sudan in the West, and Somalia and Kenya in the South, has a population of nearly 120 million. Ethiopia began being governed by the Empire of Haile Selassie...