Guest Editor's Introduction: Historians and Histories of the Horn of Africa: Toward a Comparative View

For we can get some idea of a whole from a part, but never knowledge or exact opinion. Special histories therefore contribute very little to the knowledge of the whole and conviction of its truth. It is only indeed by study of the interconnection of all the particulars, their resemblances and differences, that we are enabled at least to make a general survey, and thus derive both benefit and pleasure from history.

Polybius, The Histories

Although much has been written on the history and culture of the Horn of Africa, one of the most contentious, controversial, and important questions regarding the contemporary history of Africa still remains: what is the matter with the Horn?

Examining cutting-edge issues in the ongoing redrawing of the political map of the Horn of Africa, the organizing committee of the international conference titled "The Horn of Africa between History, Law, and Politics" set as its goal the presentation of a rich and stimulating range of papers exploring the historical and contemporary meanings of the major changes the region has undergone. The articles in the present issue of Northeast African Studies are derived from papers presented at this conference.

The primary objective of the organizing committee was to examine the Horn of Africa's postindependence struggle to build transparent, accountable, and participatory governance structures, in order to predict scenarios of conflict resolution, new bases of cooperation, and modes and models of reconstruction of the legal and juridical systems in the region. Indeed, as Bereket Habte Selassie aptly underlined, the conference was "a bold and imaginative exercise in optimism" or, at least, a challenge to participants to adopt an international comparative perspective, which is of interest above all for its discussion of the major changes that have taken place since the imposition of European colonial rule on the Horn.

Both African-born scholars and other experts were encouraged to attend the conference. The audience took an active part, and indeed the number of international scholars from different fields within the humanities and social sciences who participated in panel discussions reflects the lively interest resulting from the broad guidelines provided for the conference. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to publish in the present volume all the papers that were discussed. This edited collection confirms the insights of both mature and younger scholars, successfully demonstrating that the peoples of the Horn are much more complexly embedded in, and reflective of, interacting social and political processes than was understood by previous generations of scholars. Whereas historians and ethnologists of past decades tended to address each people separately, the panelists highlight the important interrelationships between groups. Each author tackles this interpretative challenge, providing different approaches, with thematic essays that strike a successful balance between political and social history.

The Horn of Africa is thus increasingly treated as a cohesive area of study. The historical and social links between most of its constituent countries have always been strong. In part, this has been because of its colonial past, with Eritrea and Somalia among the Italian colonial possessions, Djibouti under French control, and Somaliland administered by Great Britain. Moreover, today these countries share a common destiny, in which the emerging political contours do not arouse much hope for the enhancement of international cooperation for peace and prosperity, for the rule of law and justice, for the gaining of support for poverty alleviation. Thus, stabilizing the assessment of the past becomes a critical first step in reversing these expectations.

The reader of this collection can particularly appreciate the collaboration of colleagues in their efforts to deal with political, anthropological, social, and legal questions, and in the fresh look they take at the way peoples, symbols, and ideas straddle the various regions of the Horn and at the clashes between these things in these regions. Common research questions raised during the conference focused on the institutional and cognitive structures resulting from such interactions. Among the topics included were the historical and current processes of construction of spaces of action and communication, as well as the processes of conflict and...