The Conflict in Ethiopia from a Tigrayan Perspective

 Ethiopia Insight posted on 18 December 2020 a commentary titled "The War on Tigray: A Multi-pronged Assault Driven by Genocidal Undercurrents" by Gebrekirstos Gebremeskel, an Amsterdam-based researcher.  

This is a lengthy and controversial historical account of the conflict in Tigray Region written from a Tigrayan perspective.  The author argues the conflict is a war against Tigray Region and the Tigrayan people with the goal of destroying Tigray.  

Ethiopia after the Assassinations

The International Crisis Group (ICG) posted on 25 June 2019 a commentary titled "Restoring Calm in Ethiopia after High-profile Assassinations."

The ICG lays out several steps that it says the Ethiopian government and EPRDF need to take to restore calm in the country.

Election Challenges Facing Ethiopia

Ethiopia Insight published on 27 February 2019 an analysis titled "Ethiopia Elite Lost in Electoral Maze under Abiy's Gaze" by Rene Lefort, specialist in African affairs, and Kjetil Tronvoll, Bjorknes University College Oslo.

The authors note there is widespread concern that Ethiopia will not be ready for democratic elections in May 2020. There is a slide towards personalization and deinstitutionalization of power in the country. There is no quick fix to the predicament that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the EPRDF, and Ethiopia are in.

Struggle for Ethiopia's Future

Ethiopia Insight posted on 3 December 2018 a commentary titled "Can Team Lemma Bridge Ethiopia's Political Chasm?" by Nyikaw Ochalla, an indigenous people's rights activist.

The author discusses the current struggle in Ethiopia between the ethnic nationalists and the patriotic unionists.

Debate on Ethiopia's Reform Program

Rene Lefort recently published in Ethiopia Insight a commentary on political developments in Ethiopia under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (see the posting for 21 October below). In a long rejoinder in the 25 October 2018 Ethiopia Observer, Messay Kebede, University of Dayton in Ohio, took issue with many of Lefort's conclusions. Lefort responded on 29 October 2018 in a piece published by Ethiopia Insight.

Readers can judge for themselves.

Ethiopia Faces Political Uncertainty

Ethiopia Insight published on 21 October 2018 an analysis titled "Ethiopia: Climbing Mount Uncertainty" by Rene Lefort, who has written on African issues since the 1970s.

The author argues that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed made three huge strategic errors as he announced his reform program. There are now four future scenarios, all of which are steep and tortuous as Ethiopia faces a mountain of uncertainty.

Ethiopia: Can "Abiymania" Withstand Ethnic Conflict?

World Politics Review published on 15 October 2018 an interview with Terrence Lyons, George Mason University, entitled "Can 'Abiymania' in Ethiopia Withstand the Threat of Ethnic Conflict?"

Terence Lyons responds to questions dealing with the factors that have led to recent ethnic violence, the extent to which the violence is a setback for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's reform and reconciliation efforts, and how effective he has been in implementing his other main policy priorities.

Ethnic Violence in Ethiopia

Ethiopia Insight published on 26 September 2018 an analysis titled "Mob Killings Split Ethiopians As Political Fault Lines Test Abiy's Big Tent" by Nizar Manek, Addis Ababa correspondent for Bloomberg News, and Ermias Tasfaye, Ethiopia Insight reporter.

This is an account of the recent ethnic violence in various parts of Ethiopia and the threat that it poses to the unity of the country.

Berhanu Nega's War in Ethiopia

The New York Times Magazine published on 31 August 2016 an article titled "Once a Bucknell Professor, Now the Commander of an Ethiopian Rebel Army" by Joshua Hammer.

This is the story of Berhanu Nega, a former university professor who is on indefinite leave of absence from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania and now spends most of his time in Eritrea leading an effort known as Ginbot 7 to topple the government in neighboring Ethiopia. He left Pennsylvania for Eritrea in July 2015. The author of the story met with Berhanu in both the United States and Eritrea. Berhanu says he overseas several hundred rebel fighters in Eritrea as well as an unknown number of armed members inside Ethiopia who carry out occasional attacks. His family continues to live in the United States to which he travels on an Eritrean passport as he does not have U.S. citizenship.

A couple readers (see comments) criticized my choice of title for this piece. I would note that the title of the article in the published version of The New York Times Magazine was "Professor Nega's War." My title was nothing more than a rewording of this title as some readers do not connect Berhanu Nega with Ethiopia. Most followers of this blog are not Ethiopian.