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ARTICLES 33.

SOCIAL SCIENCES AND THE HORN OP AFRICA

by A, Castagno1

Since its inception in i960, it could be claimedthat the Somali Republic has remained one of Africa'smost stable and democratic states. Yet it has beenthe only country in Africa to pursue a vigorous policyof irredentism. Interestingly, the first articles onthe Horn in the sixties underlined conflicts betweenSomali and the contiguous states: today more is writ-ten on detente and rapprochement.

Given the dramatic events which have taken place inthe Horn during the sixties and their implications .for the future* it is fitting to review some of theliterature that has contributed to an understandingof the current Issues and their background. Emphasiswill be on works in English but prefatory comments onmajor Italian contributors are merited since Italy hasplayed and continues to play an Important role. Recentsignificant books by Richard Hess and by VirginiaThompson and Richard Adloff are reviewed in some detail.

Italian Sources:

The current problems of the Horn can be said tohave begun with the Italian acquisition of the SomaliBenadir in 1885. Coincident with the first few yearsof Italy's domination, one of her most intrepid explo:-rer - travellers* Antonio Cecchl^ published whatremains the most extensive account of the area's floraand fauna (Da Zeila alia frontiere del Caffa, 1885™I887, 3 volsT^ BookB~^Y^^er~tra!veTTers~> such asRobecchl-Bricchettij, followed^ but it was not untilthe writings of the doyen of Cushitic studies^ Enrico

1. Professor A. Castagno, Director of the AfricanStudies Centre of the University of Boston, isVisiting Fulbright Professor and Head of theDepartment of Political Science-

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Cerulli in the 1920's and 19^0's, that we find thefirst serious scholarly commitment, Cerullifslinguistic, ethnographic and historical writings(collected in his three-volume SomaJA^j___^eT±ttl_varied inediti) did much to stimulate similar researchby such scholars as Colucci, Crottanelli and Puceioni,The Italo-Ethiopian war produced a voluminous literat-ure on the Somali but much of it was propaganda.

Since the Trusteeship period, there has emergeda new group of Somali specialists such as Costanzo,Giglio and Finazzo, whose works are largely constitu-tional or historical. But there is little in thesewritings that shares the politico-sociological appro-aches of American scholars, 'The heavy weight ofCroce's neo-Hegelianism crushed the nascent traditionof political sociology established by Mosca and Pareto,And since Italian anthropology remains caught in itsphysical and ethnographic biases, there is little inthe way of structural-functional analysis.

Britain also established her foothold in the HornIn 1885. But long before then Sir Richard Burton tra-versed the area between Zella and Harrar and producedthe most vivid and trenchant account of the Somalinational character yet to appear (see especially the1966 edition of his First Footsteps in East Africa).The observations of this prolific writer -- famedalso for his translations of A^^M^riNlgTit^ -- are asgermane today as they were a century ago. Later.s otherEnglish works expanded or elaborated on Burton; here weneed only mention D. Jardlne ! s M§,d.-rMullah_ of gomallland(1923)* which painstakingly des'cri"bed 15ne~of~ ATricaTsmost lengthy and intractable struggles against colonial-ism. But it was not until the appearance of I.M. Lewis'

A f a r a n d Saho

Somali society. Lewis1study~of

book, a successful synthesis of

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the major literature, is a primer for Somali ethno-graphy. The long barren period of scholarship un-doubtedly reflected an early British lack of concernfor this "most costly" and "troublesome" colony.

Since 1955* Lewis has written profusely; hispenchant for accurate and meticulous scholarship ishard to match. I regard his A Pastoral Democracy(i960) as a singular contribution to political anthro-pology and to Somali studies. In this work thecomplexities of the Somali social system, with itsfeud-force-contract basis, is unravelled with clarity.His History of Somaliland (1965), although it ignoresmany features of Italian colonialism, was intended toprovide the non-specialist with a general account.Lewis' many articles on Somali Islam, which add sub-stantially to Cerulli and to S. Trimingham's Islam inEthiopia (1965 ed.), give insights into the relation-ship between religion and politics and into SomaliMuslim-Ethiopian Coptic competition in the Horn. Withoutquestion Lewis has emerged as the leading authority onthe Somali and though he has now turned his attentionto broader theoretical questions we anticipate othersalient works on the Somali from him.

Specifically dealing with the sources of inter-national conflict, albeit from the Somali viewpoint,is the director of African Research Limited, JohnDrysdale. His Somali Dispute (1964) stems from twodecades of service with the Somalis in the Britishcolonial administration and as an advisor to the SomaliGovernment. The book concentrates on the colonialscramble, the Wal-Wal dispute, the Haud fiasco, Somali-Kenyan hostilities, and events which led to Somali-British diplomatic rupture. Of particular relevanceare his observations on events since 1955. Like othercolonial officers who wanted their country to do moreand who passionately identified with their particularareas, Drysdale castigates Britain for what he regardsas her duplicity on the Somali issue. He ends with a

ARTICLES 36.

plea for international acceptance of Somali's irre-dentist claims. Pew Ethiopian scholars have takenissue with Drysdale's work, but a notable exceptionis Mesfin Wolde Mariam's "Background to the Ethio-Somalian Boundary Dispute" (Journal of Modern AfricanStudies, 1964) which is an effective rebuttal to Drys-dale and to an article by your reviewer on boundarydisputes.

I have stated in review that Greenfield'sEthiopia - A New Political History (1965) tends totreat Somali irredentism too lightly but apart fromdrawing attention to Mesfin's article, he refers toMesfin s Amharic articles in Addis Zemen and elsewhereand he also comments that "the student seeking to under-stand the Ethiopian position might consult a file of theEthiopian Observer; the works of S & R Pankhurst especi-ally Ex Italian Somaliland, London 1950; Ethio-SomaliaRelations, Imperial Ministry of Information, Addis Ababa,1962 and the speech of Prime Minister Aklilu Habtewoldat the African Summit Meeting 1963, in Ethiopia Observer,Vol. VII, No.l, 1963". A file of the Ethiopian Heraldis of course a similar source.

Greenfield apart, British writers on Somalia have,like Drysdale, tended to sympathize with the Somalis.R.W. Andrzejewski, the outstanding Somali linguist (seehis work with Lewis, An Introduction to Somali Poetry,1964) and Margaret Laurence, the sensitive commentatoron Somali Poetry (A Tree for Poverty), and on Somali life(The Camel's Bell, 1963) both identified with the Somalicause. More effective politically was Lord Lytton, whoseStolen Desert, 1966 is a good index of his vigorouslypro-Somali position in the House of Lords. Anotherdissident' can be noted in that Elspeth Huxley's ratheralarmist articles seem bent on showing that Somali irre-dentism is part of a wider Egyptian and Soviet schemeof things.

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Am eric an Au thorlj i_eg:

The majority of American or American-trainedscholars who have written on the Horn did theirgraduate work in history or in international relations.Your reviewer belongs to that group. My third piece,gornalia, (1959) is a comprehensive* if briefs study ofthe social, economic and political aspects of SomaliTrusteeship. My chapters on Somali education (in Sloanand Kitchen, The Educated AfrIcetn, 1962) were moredetailed and put in the developmental context- Since1959 my articles have sought to stress the ethnic cor-relations. Following the general conclusions of Lewis,I have analyzed in detail how the pattern of clanallegiances and cleavages imposed itself on domesticpolitics and on Greater Somalia aspirations (in Colemanand Rosberg, Political PartiesandNational Integration

On the political level* other Americans have addedto the literature. Ravi Kapil, a former Peace Corpsrepresentative* has contributed several articles on theboundary and on Somali Integration. Paolo Contini andhis wife, Jeanne, long with the UN In the Horn, haveexcellent pieces on Somali law and politics, JamesParrell, who also spent several years in the area, hasgiven us a penetrating analysis of the Somali army andE. Bayne's many reports for the American UniversitiesField Staff are probably the most colourful and livelyaccounts on Somali politics yet available.

A book which is probably the most objective treat-ment of the International problems of the Horn can per-haps be Included with American wrltings„ It Is SaadiaTouval' s Som_ajJ^_N_ationallsm: Jljtgrna11onal _ Po 1 i 110sajid_jDhe_J3r̂Touval, an Israeli who received his Ph.D. from Harvard,,Is presently concentrating on the problems of Africanboundaries In general. Though It seems to your reviewei

ARTICLES 38,

that his work lacks the authoritative basis found inDrysdale, it certainly explores more broadly the involve-ment of the major and minor powers. Touval deals in-adequately with Somali nationalism per se but he suc-ceeds in defining the relationship between that ideolo-gical force and the boundary questions. He is notoptimistic about an early resolution of the controversybut concludes that the best hope rests in the "politicalrealism" of the leaders. It is precisely this recentpolitical realism of Somali* Ethiopian and Kenyan lead-ers which has done much to bring about the currentdetente.

The relationship between economics and politicsis too well-established to be stressed here* Thereis no doubt that the present detente stems in largepart from the closure of the Suez Canal and its impacton the Somali economy. Somalia's economic dilemma hascompelled her to strive for amicable relations with herneighbours and for entry into the East African Federation.The economic reasons for these new directions are found*explicitly and implicitly* in Mark Karp's The Economicsof Trusteeshig_ in Somalia (i960). Based on field workand exhaustive study* the book is an excellent analysisof Somalia's subsistence and money economies and of herinternational trade and finance. On the theoretical level*Karp is convincing in his arguments that the nomads canmodernize and that the Somali case shows the need for thepredominance of economic rationality in political decisions,Further* the book reveals the extent to which Somaliaremains heavily dependent on foreign aid, which partlyexplains the intensive foreign involvement in Somalia'sdestiny. Apart from some excellent studies by inter-national organizations and by the Somali* Italian andAmerican governments* little has been written on Somalieconomics since Karp's book.

Turning now to the historical writings on the area,the best work yet produced in English is Robert Hess'sItalian Colonialism in Somalia (1966). This book is

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essential reading for those who need to fill this gapin the literature on European and Italian imperialism.Because Hess earlier followed in the tradition of HarryRudin, his emphasis is on the European components ofcolonialism and not on the indigenous forces. For thisreason the book will not meet the requirements of thosewho regard oral history as a crucial part.of Africanhistory or of those scholars who view microcosmic fieldstudies as the most effective means of revealing thenature of European administration.

The strength of Hess1 work lies in its analysis ofItalian colonialism in the early period, 1885-1923, Heunfolds a fascinating story of the diplomacy that madepossible Italy's control of Somalia, In some considerabledetail, he describes the work of the chartered companiesand the first colonial administrators in establishing thepermanent bases of Italian administrative policies. Hisconclusions concur with my own findings that the colonywas an economic burden* that the announced racial policywas not pursued effectively (though there were moreracists than he implies), and that the Italian colonialexperiences did not differ too sharply from those ofother European powers.

Since Hess1 chapter on "La Grande Somalia" (theFascist period) and his "Epilogue" were probably addedto bring the book up to date, their incompleteness shouldnot be too severely criticized. However they are thesections most relevant to current issues. Contrary tothe author's implications, the Italian scheme of GreaterSomalia and its later implementation by the British wereimportant precedents for Somalia's cry for unity. Priorto World War II, as Hess points out, Somali proto-nationalists were few - if not so few as he suggests.The Somali Youth League, after all, had its origins in1943, and in 1948 the party viewed the unification ofthe Somali areas as its primary aim. Many prominentmembers of the party either served in the Italo-Ethiopianwar or in the administration. But none of these points

ARTICLES 4o.

detract from Hess' major scholarly intent and contri-bution — that of providing a first-rate work on theearly period of Italian colonialism. The author hasnow shifted his concern to Ethiopia and it is hopedthat he will continue to give his attention to someof Ethiopia's problem regions including the Somali-inhabited Ogaden.

None of the studies so far cited have adequatelydealt with the fifth point of the Somali star — theTerritoire Francais des Afars et des Isaas (formerlyFrench Somaliland). The territory has been largelyignored, though Drysdale and Lewis have written briefarticles on the subject. The bulk of French literatureis inconveniently scattered among numerous French perio-dicals and only the books by H. Deschamps (et al., Cotedes Somalis-Reunion-Indie, 1948) and J. Poinsot (Djiboutiet la Cote Francaises des Somalis, 1964) seem to be ger-mane to current political questions. Therefore to saythat Virginia Thompson and Richard Adloff's Djiboutiand the Horn of Africa (1968) is a "welcomed and animportant contribution" is to do more than cite a cliche.Readers familiar with those authors' many books on South-east Asia and on French-speaking Africa will not bedisappointed: they maintain their usual high scholarlystandards.

The book is divided into two sections: Part Ideals with the historical and socio-anthropologicalbackground, the governmental structure and domesticand international politics. Part II is concerned withsocial and economic policies and development. Of primaryinterest to our review are the two chapters on politicsand these seem also to be the authors' main concerndespite their equal treatment of all subjects. Djibouti,after all, is France's last African mainland territoryand her major naval and air relay station between theMediterranean and the East. To Ethiopia, the port isof crucial importance for it houses the Ethiopian-Djibouti railway terminal and is a major egress to the

ARTICLES 41.

sea. The territory is also coveted by Somalia onnationalist* religious and economic grounds.

Small as Djibouti and its environs may be, ithas been one of France's most difficult territoriesto administer. The main problems have centeredaround traditional rivalries between the nomadicSomalis and Afars (a group religiously and ethnicallyclose to the Somalis) and around the cleavages thathave sprung up between the urbanized Somalis and thenomads. Added to this congeries of competition arethe Arab labourers and commercianti who have vacillatedin their political alignments but have remained steadilyattached to France's policy. The details of these inter-group relations as they interact with French rule arewell defined by Thompson and Adloff. In its essentials,the struggle for power — begun in 1946, accelerated inthe 1958 referendum, and exacerbated by the 1967 vote —has taken on all the attributes of the vacillatingpolitics found in Somalia. But here, as the authorscorrectly imply, the similarity ends. In the crucial1958 and 1967 votes, the French use of economic, poli-tical and military power (including forced emigrationof Somalis) did much to frustrate attempts by localSomalis and by Mogadishu to secure majorities forindependence.

How in this context the pattern of leadershipevolves and how the less politically astute, but morenumerous, Afars were able to gain political ascendencyis one of the most incisive stories in the book. Intheir judgements on French rule, the authors arecautious, for they fully recognize the difficultiesconfronting France in dealing with (or intensifying?)conflicting local forces and indelicately preservingthe status quo between two competing African states.They also appreciate the paramountcy of French interests:at stake has been De Gaulle's image as "liberator" ofFrench Africa and "champion" of the Third World. Franceis indeed in an unenviable position and neither she norEthiopia have* deceived themselves that the 1967 vote

ARTICLES . 42,

secured a permanent solution.

The chapter on "External Relations" furtherdefines the intricacies of foreign involvement whichhave been described by some of our other authors.Besides Ethiopian and Somali interests in Djibouti,foreign governments such as the Arab states, theUSSR, and the United States have been directly orindirectly Involved. These broader internationalaspects were one reason why both the UN Decoloni-zation Committee and the OAU sought to., deal with theSomali complaint, albeit unsuccessfully. Anothersource of tension was the connection between theEritrean revolts in Ethiopia (the Eritrean federationwas terminated in 1962) and pro-Somali events inFrance's enclave. In reviewing these developments,the authors also point to the efforts taken by Somaliato secure world wide Muslim support for her goals.But, as this reviewer noted a decade ago and as theauthors confirm, the Prance-Ethiopian (tacit) dualentente has proved' to be the major obstacle to PanSomali goals in Djibouti. Today the Somalis acceptthis limitation, but it Is to be noted that Magadishuhas taken pains to stress that the Somali Governmenthas not abandoned Its historical objectives., it hasonly altered the means.

There is little In the book that can be severelycriticised. Political scientists, historians andeconomists could all ask for more -- but the authorsaccomplish their primary objective of providing amulti-disciplinary work on an area long neglectes byacademics. Personally I could have wished that theyhad gone more deeply Into the role of the Arab statesand Into the earlier attempts by modernist Afars andSoraalis to forge 'solid political and ideological links.

In this r.eview of the literature of the pastdecade several conclusions are apparent: (l) the

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Somali capacity for self-rule Is clear in spite ofdisruptive ethnic factors and the legacy of twodifferent European administrations.; (2) Pan-Somaliand Pan-Islamic ideologies have done a great deal tostrengthen nationalist sentiments and to shore up thepolitical system; (3) Somali politics can be highlyrealistic and pragmatic, as the abrupt shift from aforceful Pan-Somali policy to a detente suggests;(4) -while the more vigorous approaebes to GreaterSomalia have been toned down> Pan-Somali unity remains

and, (5) in•and economicsuch a

a cardinal objective of Somali-modernists;no other area in Africa, does the politicalsecurity of the state depend so heavily oncomplex balancing of major and minor powers.

Yet while these conclusions may seem relativalfirm and although we havepublications on the Horn,

recent

can only remain dissatisfied with

been enriched bythe student of African affairs

the state of research.It would be presumptuous for1 this reviewer to indicateall the subjects which still require study, However,past and present developments in the Horn.might suggestthree priorities. First, linguistic .and language studies,both aesthetically and behaviourally oriented., need tobe more energetically pursued if we are to gauge moreaccurately the problems of integration and the cross-cultural attitudes of the area. Second, microcosmicrural and urban studies in political science, sociology,anthropology and economics could add considerableprecision to our analysis of the problems of politicaland social change, Third, studies dealing with thefeasibility of and limitations to the functional, poli-tical and economic aspects of regional integration andwith the behavioural aspects of conflict and conflict-resolution, could help to provide better understandingof the tensions and hostilities that have long prevailedin the Horn,

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Increased knowledge and perceptions do nota priori lead to more rational political conduct but"they do provide a basis for that ideal condition.Africanists and non-Africanists alike, have: duringthis period of detente* a rare opportunity to contri-bute more than sheer description, analysis and theory.Their work may help engineer a more enduring detente,one based on equitable solution.