TITLE:
From Treaty to MOUs: Analysis of the Eventuality of the 2018 Ethiopia-Eritrea Peace Agreement
AUTHORS:
Sarah M. Musau
KEYWORDS:
Conflict, Peace Agreement, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Treaty, MOU, Vienna Convention
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.9 No.5,
May
8,
2021
ABSTRACT: This paper analyses the 2018 Ethiopia-Eritrea Peace Agreement, whether it is a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) or a treaty, highlighting factors leading to the conflict
and the peace agreement. It also highlights the previous peace accords and why
even after the Agreements, the tensions remain/ed high. Most Peace Agreements
are either MOU or Treaty. MOUs are non-legally binding, while treaties are
legally binding. Unfortunately, there is no consensus on what constitutes a
treaty or memorandum of understanding. However, the 1969 Vienna Convention on
the Law of Treaties guides on treaties formulation. This paper deployed
in-depth desk review research, text analysis and interpretation, and official
documents. In its theoretical and methodological approach, the paper adopted an
interdisciplinary approach to understanding the eventuality of the 2018 Peace
Agreement. In its analysis and findings, the paper found out that the 2018
Peace Agreement was an MOU. It also found out that the conflict is not only
political and religious but also emotional, cognitive, and behavioral. The
failure of arbitration and the Algiers Agreement, which were legally binding,
prompted the parties to enter into the 2018 non-legally binding Peace
Agreement. The previous dispute resolution mechanisms lacked a provision on
enforcement mechanism and consequences of the breach, while the 2018 Peace
Agreement specifies this provision. The prior Agreements also lacked political
goodwill to implement the Commission’s Boundary Report. However, the 2018 Peace
Agreement sets the enforcement mechanism. The paper, thus, concludes that MOUs,
which are primarily for political and economic interests, unlike treaties which
are for legal claims, have high chances of success for settling conflict and
restoring peace. Due to the recent nature of the 2018 Peace Agreement, there is
limited to no research on its progress, a potential area for future research.