Academic conference: Stosunki międzynarodowe w Rogu Afryki – wczoraj i dziś/ International Relations in the Horn of Africa – yesterday and today

On 14^th April 2016, an academic conference took place at the Jagiellonian University entitled Stosunki międzynarodowe w Rogu Afryki – wczoraj i dziś/ International Relations in the Horn of Africa – yesterday and today. This was the second conference organized by the Jagiellonian Research Center for African Studies in cooperation with the Jagiellonian University Institute of Political Science and International Relations, this time within the framework of the research project “Erytrea i jej destabilizujący wpływ na sytuację polityczną w Rogu Afryki” [Eritrea and its destabilizing impact on the political situation in the Horn of Africa], conducted under the supervision of Prof. Robert Kłosowicz, and financed using funds from the National Science Centre. The conference focused on a discussion of the international relations in the Horn of Africa – one of the most conflict-prone trouble spots in the world. In order to present the widest possible spectrum of problems and challenges related to the region in its broad understanding, i.e. as the Greater Horn of Africa, the organisers invited researchers associated with academic fields other than political science, including ethnology, cultural studies and history, to participate in the conference.

The event took place in the Michał Bobrzyński Chamber in Maius. The official opening of the conference was done by the Head of the Jagiellonian Research Center for African Studies and the Director of the Institute of Political Science and International Relations, Prof. Robert Kłosowicz. The conference began with a lecture by our keynote speaker – Dr Tanja Müller, entitled Geopolitics, Betrayals and Narratives of Oppression: Understanding Eritrean Foreign Policy in the wider context of the Horn of Africa, dedicated to Eritrea’s foreign policies in the context of international relations in the Horn of Africa and its most recent history. Dr Müller, employed at the School of Environment, Education, and Development, is a renowned specialist on Eritrea, who focuses mainly on development issues, internal policies and contemporary Eritrean emigration. She has conducted a lot of fieldwork in Eritrea, where she used to work as a journalist before turning to an academic career.

The conference was also honoured to guest Stefan Boness – a photo journalist, who worked as a war reporter for many years (including during the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia in 1998-2000) and was a laureate of the World Press Photo award in 2002. He prepared a presentation of his photographs from Eritrea especially for the occasion, entitled Eritrea – African Enigma. It included photographs from the most recent conflict, as well as images recording the everyday lives of Eritreans (including some presenting the so-called Asmarinos – the Asmara elders, who still remember the times when Eritrea was an Italian colony).

The speakers included renowned Polish and foreign specialists with a research focus on the Horn of Africa from the University of Warsaw, the Jagiellonian University, the Technická Univerzita v Liberci, including the Chair of the Polish Society of African Studies – Dr Hanna Rubinkowska-Anioł, a well-known Ethiopist. Her paper entitled Is Ethiopia an African country? Haile Sellasie I's policy towards Ethiopia's neighbours discussed the interesting issue of how “Africanness” is perceived by the Ethiopians themselves and the influence this has on Ethiopia’s foreign policies during Haile Sellasie I’s reign. The conference would not have been complete without presentations dedicated specifically to discussing the international relations in the region, including papers by Prof. Robert Kłosowicz – Does Eritrea Have a Destabilizing Effect on International Relations in the Horn of Africa?, Prof. Maciej Ząbek – Somaliland. A State Against All Odds or Prof. Wiesław Lizak, Ph.D. – Conflict in South Sudan – the Genesis and Consequences for the Political Situation in the Horn of Africa. The event was also attended by numerous members of the Jagiellonian Centre for African Studies who actively participated in the conference.

The conference was abundant in interesting presentations and productive discussions, which gives the organisers hope that this will be the beginning of a new tradition of recurring academic meetings dedicated to the Horn of Africa organised by the Jagiellonian University.

Joanna Mormul