War and the Politics of Identity in Ethiopia: the Making of Enemies and Allies in the Horn of Africa

Kjetil Tronvoll. War and the Politics of Identity in Ethiopia: the Making of Enemies and Allies in the Horn of Africa. Rochester, NY: James Currey, 2009.

While Kjetil Tronvoll's (along with Tekeste Negash) previous work, Brothers at War (James Currey, 2000), guided me in having a brief overview of the Eritrean-Ethiopia 1998-2000 War, it was certainly Tronvoll's new encompassing study of the inner identity politics of Ethiopia and particularly the sketch of the socio-political trajectory of the regional Tigrayan State that put the historical details right. As far as the book is concerned, I can only marvel at this meticulous handling of sources and the richness of information on the evolution of the formation and conceptualization of identities in Ethiopia. The following war history and identities are described with rare clarity and the book explores the understanding of war and impact of warfare on historical trajectories of enemy images.

The Ethiopian-Eritrean War had a dramatic impact on both rural and urban livelihoods in Eritrea and the regional state of Tigray in northern Ethiopia, the most affected region in the country. Within this complex and contradictory setting, the book aims to answer some questions of research, which it does this quite successfully. In addition, the author questions on the...