(By Mehari
Taddele Maru)
After
the fanfare accorded to the United States President Barack Obama by Kenya, the
last stop was Ethiopia. Of
grand symbolic importance, Obama's visit to East Africa was clearly historic,
as he is the first sitting US president to do so.
A
source of infectious excitement, Obama is extraordinarily popular and despite
the various inconveniences and disruptions to their daily activities,
Ethiopians have been delighted to welcome him to their country.
While
visiting Ethiopia's capitol city, Addis Ababa, Obama addressed both the
Ethiopian government and the African Union.
His
presence in the region is a reflection of just how far East Africa, and
particularly Ethiopia, has progressed in addressing their various misfortunes.
Dealing
with terrorism
Security
cooperation is an area of high interest for the US in Africa.
Obama
has repeatedly expressed his administration's keen interest in learning from
Ethiopia's counterterrorism (CT) efforts and its counterinsurgency (COIN)
strategy, which I call the "Ethiopian Doctrine" on CT and COIN.
Attesting
to this fact, Obama said: "Obviously [the US and Ethiopia] have been
talking a lot about terrorism and the focus has been on ISIL [the Islamic State
of Iraq and the Levant], but in Somalia, we've seen al-Shabab, an affiliate of
al-Qaeda, wreak havoc throughout that country."
He
continued: "That's an area where the cooperation and leadership on the
part of Ethiopia is making a difference as we speak […] So, our
counterterrorism cooperation and the partnerships that we have formed with
countries like Ethiopia are going to be critical to our overall efforts to
defeat terrorism."
For
many experts closely following events in the Horn of Africa and the fight
against terrorism, Ethiopia stands out as having been exceptionally successful.
But
what makes Ethiopia's doctrine so successful?
1. Supremacy
of politics
The
Ethiopian Doctrine on CT and COIN differs from others in several highly related
respects:
The
first element refers to supremacy of politics over the military components of
the CT and COIN strategies. Under the Ethiopian Doctrine, politics precedes and
leads the military and criminal justice systems. Traditional military-led COIN
and CT strategies (including peacekeeping missions) cripplingly depend on the
expeditionary army, whereas the Ethiopian Doctrine focuses on liberating areas
for local communities to organise, arm themselves, and fight back against
terrorists.
It
also focuses on traditional narratives of solidarity, thereby promoting
credible voices and messages of hope against despair.
Additionally,
the counterinsurgency soldiers must always follow and support the political and
civilian officers. Thus, political work and community development advances
before military operations.
2. Subsidiarity
principle
The
political work involves mainly consultation with local communities and helping
them in organising and arming themselves in order to fight back against
threats. A soldier has a place in CT and COIN, but only in a subsidiary role to
the political officer. The
role of political and civilian officers cannot be replaced by a soldier or
military representative.
It
is not a quick-fix solution, but instead, seeks to gradually weaken violent
extremism by engraining anti-insurgency into the very local cultural attributes
and historical legacies of toleration of societies that comprise Ethiopia.
Trust-building,
understanding fears, and sharing a common vision is at the centre of this
approach, but more importantly, it embraces the principle of subsidiarity that
requires that any and all external actors should be backup supporters of
efforts by internal forces and local communities in the fight against
terrorism.
This
approach also helps to build close-knit neighbourhood associations that provide
community-based peace and security with effective oversight by the state.
Such
a commonality makes it very difficult for both foreign and domestic extremist
groups to establish themselves and operate clandestinely within communities.
3. Pockets
of stability and sustenance
Another
element relates to seeking peace and national unity through the gradual
expansion of pockets of stability, legitimacy, law, and order.
While
traditional anti-insurgency strategies focus on controlling territories and
populations, the Ethiopian Doctrine focuses on public deliberations, training,
arming, and establishing administrative units in liberated areas to ensure
their own peace and security.
It
is a gradualist approach. For example, beginning with the liberation of
Somalia's capital Mogadishu, and then working outwards to liberate and secure
more surrounding territory through community-based outreach.
Moreover,
this strategy relates to the governance and delivery of basic services in order
to build hope within communities and security to sustain their own livelihoods.
It
aims at drying the swamps of poverty and unrest that breed violent extremism.
Basically, this approach kills the problem at its source, before it spreads and
expands beyond control.
4. Mobile
military command posts
The
last, and arguably the most profound aspect of Ethiopian Doctrine is that it
recognises that there is no military solution to terrorism and insurgency. That
being said, it doesn't eliminate it from the equation. It simply acknowledges
that the military is not the most important factor.
It
prioritises a greater use of mobile field headquarters and command centres
meshed in the community - centres that are primarily designed to support the
local communities in their efforts against terrorism and to provide extra
muscle when their efforts are outgunned by the enemy.
In
traditional anti-insurgency strategies, these mobile military operations would
be pushing aggressive offensive measures and become static and easy targets for
terrorist forces.
By
adapting aspects of the Ethiopian Doctrine to local peculiarities, other
regions facing chaotic security regimes could not only alienate the leadership
of the terrorist organisations but could also offer opportunity and space for
local community-based mobilisation of CT and COIN strategies.
Expansive
and indiscriminate bombings without the active participation of local
communities and regional actors would provide for more grievance-based
terrorism and will fail to be effective and sustainable in the long term.
Source:
Aljazeera
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