Brothers at War

Demonstrates the wider genesis of the conflict between the two nations.This text presents contextual aspects in order to explain the growing discord between the two former friendly governments of Eritrea and Ethiopia. It looks at historical relations since the late 19th century, border issues from local perspectives and relations between the former liberation fronts. North America: Ohio U Press

Future works may fill in gaps and stretch the time frame to include the end of the war and the diplomatic road that led to the Peace Agreement of December 12, 2000, but few will match Brothers at War for its objectivity, access to key players, and historicity. If the Eritrean-Ethiopian war puzzles you, buy this book., The authors of Brothers at War provide a crisp and informed account of the circumstances and events that led to the tragic conflict. Writing in fast-paced prose, they succeed in making sense of a war that has been universally condemned as senseless., Suffice to say that this book is essential reading and very helpful in elucidating much of the background to this tragic conflict and the peculiar autocratic leaderships that led to it., ...the book does on the whole provide a useful introduction to the issues surrounding the border war. In fact, the substantive text itself occupies only 101 pages; the remaining third of the volume being numerous appendices, comprising significant governmental documents concerning the war and attempts to resolve it ... As such, the text does usefully bring together a wide range of material: internet sourced materials, periodicals, government propaganda, and interviews with Eritreans and Ethiopians, all of which are useful for those with little background knowledge of the conflict ... the text does present both the Eritrean and the Ethiopian positions on several issues ... the authors provide a particularly good account of the failure of international diplomacy - and of the relative lack of international resources and attention given to these negotiations, compared with European conflicts.

KJETIL TRONVOLL is Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Bjørknes University College, Director of Oslo Analytica policy research and advisory company, and a former Professor of Human Rights at the University of Oslo. His books include, with Daniel R. Mekonnen, The African Garrison State: Human Rights & Political Development in Eritrea (2017).