Analysis of Ethiopia's 2015 Elections

The January 2016 edition of Journal of Democracy published an article titled "The 100% Election" by Leonardo R. Arriola, University of California Berkeley, and Terrence Lyons, George Mason University. 

The authors concluded that "given the results of Ethiopia's 2015 general election, we cannot expect the transition from Meles Zenawi to Hailemariam Dessalegn to lead to political liberalization in the near or medium term." 

Seeking Peace in Ethiopia's Ogaden

The Rift Valley Institute in Nairobi recently published a lengthy study titled "Talking Peace in the Ogaden: The Search for an End to Conflict in the Somali Regional State in Ethiopia" by Tobias Hagmann, a professor at Roskilde University in Denmark. 

The author explains that the conflicting parties were preparing for a third round of talks early in 2014 when two Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) representatives were forcibly relocated from Nairobi to Ethiopia.  It is not clear that the talks will resume, but the author suggests the ONLF has been diminished militarily and politically over the past five years and is under pressure from its constituency to chart an alternative course.  The author questions the sincerity of Ethiopia in seeking a negotiated peace. 

Analyst Sees Bright Economic Future for Ethiopia

Henok Assefa of Precise Insights offered on 13 September 2012 an upbeat analysis of Ethiopia's economy in the post-Meles era. He concluded that "despite the loss of its chief strategist and long serving leader, Ethiopia will continue to emerge as one of Africa's lion economies."

Click here to read the commentary.