Contested Sovereignty and Enclaves

The Horn of Africa contains two very different examples of contested statehood. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 amid the collapse of the Somali central government, and it has since maintained its own government, currency, security forces, and a record of holding competitive elections, yet it is recognized by no United Nations member state, and the wider international community continues to treat it as part of Somalia. Eritrea, by contrast, achieved internationally recognized independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a thirty-year war and a UN-supervised referendum, but the new border was not settled, and a further war fought between 1998 and 2000, centered on the town of Badme, killed tens of thousands. An independent Boundary Commission established under the 2000 Algiers Agreement awarded Badme to Eritrea in 2002, yet Ethiopia did not implement the ruling until a rapprochement in 2018 led by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.