REVISITING THE ERITREAN NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT, 1961-1991

This book examines the Eritrean National Liberation Movement (1961-91). The twin objectives of NLM were securing Eritrea s independence and nation building. As a political agent, NLM played a significant role in the formation of the Eritrean nation. This study critically interrogates the history of the liberation movement as a process of nation formation, in a manner that highlights its significance. It also casts light on the external attention, or rather inattention, paid to the movement and on its internal weaknesses. In terms of the former, it gives an explanation of why the Eritrean liberation struggle, unlike many other liberation struggles in the Third World, was ignored and neglected. It explains how the struggle was not only misunderstood but also incorrectly defined and analyzed. The study contends that to a great extent, the definition and analysis of the liberation movement as separatist, narrow ethno-centered and religious group had contributed to the limited nature of int