Word: eritrea
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...might provide an end to the ethnic rivalries that have haunted central Africa for decades. On the other hand, it might be the opening move to redraw the Congo's borders. If that happens, no one can predict where the unraveling will stop. Somaliland has split from Somalia, Eritrea has left Ethiopia, Anjouan has declared its independence from the Comoros. The Africa carved up by Europeans in the 19th century may be completely unrecognizable in the 21st...
...might provide an end to the ethnic rivalries that have haunted central Africa for decades. On the other hand, it might be the opening move to redraw the Congo's borders. If that happens, no one can predict where the unraveling will stop. Somaliland has split from Somalia, Eritrea has left Ethiopia, Anjouan has declared its independence from the Comoros. The Africa carved up by Europeans in the 19th century may be completely unrecognizable in the 21st...
This is not Africa, people will tell you in Eritrea. What they mean is that the country is astonishingly free of the social plagues that taint much of the continent. There is no tribalism or sectarian division here. National pride supersedes loyalties to nine main ethnic groups, at least 10 languages, Islam and Christianity, in part the consequence of the rebels' insistence on mixing everyone together in its army units and now in national-service teams...
...thievery unthinkable. "It is not the police who prevent crime but the honor inside us," insists Fikad, the blacksmith. "The corruption is the lowest of any government I've ever worked for, including in Santa Rosa, Calif.," says Michael O'Neill, an American adviser to the Commercial Bank of Eritrea. "They will not tolerate it in any way, shape or form." During the war, the fighters were too desperate for money to put any into people's pockets, and that scrupulous use of every precious resource carries over into the government today...
What also sets Eritrea apart is the dedication to national purpose of its leader. President Issaias is one of Africa's new men, hammered into leadership by the rigors of long war. Though soft-spoken, he is stern, almost paternalistic in his confidence that he knows best. His government is firmly controlled, even secretive, yet people seem to admire him. He is sharp and decisive, says what is on his mind, accepts diplomatic criticism when he considers it right and rejects it when he doesn't. "What you hear is what you get," says O'Neill. "He doesn't dicker...