ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses post-liberation Eritrea in relation to three overlapping dynamics that have shaped Eritrea’s history. These exemplify an attempt at creating an innovative and assertive regime, while at the same time created unsolved contradictions that threaten the viability and future of that same regime. Those dynamics are, first, the legacies of the liberation struggle and in particular the philosophy of self-reliance; second, an oversized belief in military strength; and, third, Eritrea as a classical diasporic state, whose heterogeneous diaspora has been vital in securing independent statehood, but has also played an important role in regime survival since. The chapter argues that post-liberation politics have been pursued under the ideology of self-reliance, and through the exercise of tight control over the Eritrean citizenry, in country as well as in the diaspora. These policies have put sacrifice to the Eritrean cause at the heart of citizenship rights (or their negation). Since the 2018 rapprochement with Ethiopia that has transformed Eritrea’s geographical and political isolation, ruptures have accelerated within Eritrea and among its diaspora, potentially threatening regime viability. It thus remains to be seen if Eritrea can re-invent itself as an innovative regime in the wider region.
