Higher Education Today posted about a month ago a 29-minute podcast titled "Culture and History of Somaliland" hosted by Steven Roy Goodman with Jama Musa Jama, Hargeisa Cultural Centre, and Lee Cassanelli, professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania.
This is a positive account filmed in Hargeisa of Somaliland's history and culture, interspersed with video clips of the country.
The Habesha published on 10 March 2026 a commentary titled "Legitimacy and the Limits of Political Experimentation in Welkait" by Sisay Mulu.
The author disagrees at both the analytical and policy level with the conclusions of Zola Moges's "The Welkait Quagmire Neither Ballots nor Bullets Can Resolve" reposted below on 2 March.
Sisay Mulu argues that Zola Moges downplayed the importance of historical administrative continuity, discussed legal and constitutional issues in abstract terms, and failed to fairly consider the practical challenges of governing a contested post-conflict area.
The South China Morning Post published on 25 December 2025 an article titled "Exhibition Traces China's Long Links with Kenya from Admiral Zheng He to Belt and Road" by Jevans Nyabiage.
During the Ming dynasty, Chinese Admiral Zheng He's fleet visited the East African coast in the 1400s. China often refers to these voyages to reinforce a long relationship with Africa, although it was then interrupted and Chinese naval ships did not return to Africa until 2000.
Ethiopia Insight published on 12 September 2025 a commentary titled "Ethiopia's Federal Future Tested in Western Tigray" by Batseba Seifu, co-founder of GEMTigray.
Western Tigray has become the fault line that will decide whether Ethiopia holds together as a federal state, or fractures following the divisions left by the war between Tigray Region and the central government. This commentary focuses on history, cartography, and demography related to the issue of Western Tigray.
Ethiopia Insight published on 2 August 2025 a commentary titled "Time's Hostage: How Ethiopia's Past Is Strangling Its Present and Future" by Daniel Hailu, a multidisciplinary researcher.
The author argues that Ethiopians don't simply live through time, they "politicize it, weaponize it, and often drown in it." He adds, "The past isn't settled, it aches" and "The burden of the past bleeds into the present." Ethiopia's crisis cannot be explained by ethnic divisions or weak institutions alone. To move forward, Ethiopia must step outside the grip of its temporal paralysis.
The Valdai Discussion Club published in November 2024 a paper titled "Russia-Africa: Overcoming Challenges" by Vladimir Shubin, Institute of African Studies, Russian Academy of Science.
This paper offers a Russian view of Russia-Africa relations by a well known academic who has specialized in African affairs. He offers a history of Soviet Union/Russia relations with Africa and operates on the assumption that "Russia and Africa need each other."
The author concludes that Russia has had more success enhancing political relations with Africa than economic ties. Trade and Russian investment have fallen short of expectations. Russia is expanding its soft power. For example, 34,000 African students are now studying in Russia. He sees Russian advantages over the West because Moscow does not have a colonial history in the continent.
The Diplomat published on 9 September 2024 a commentary titled "China's African Bet and Vice Versa: A Positive-Sum Game?" by Muhammad Murad, University of Bonn.
The author concluded that China is clearly benefiting from its Africa bet. The question remains whether China would be a true partner in helping African countries move forward on economic development amid ever-changing geoeconomic and geopolitical circumstances. The author believes China seems to be Africa's last hope, if not its best bet.
The Rift Valley Institute and the Peace Research Facility published in 2023 a study titled "Religion in Contemporary Ethiopia: History, Politics and Inter-Religious Relations" by Jorg Haustein, Abduletif Kedir Idris, and Diego Maria Malara.
Religion has made a political comeback in Ethiopia under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and is once again part of the political discourse. Religious affiliation in Ethiopia is part of a multi-layered nexus incorporating ethnicity and other, secondary, social characteristics, such as occupation or class.
The study provides an overview of the politics of religion since the making of the modern Ethiopian nation state in the nineteenth century. It surveys the four most important faith groups in Ethiopia--Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Protestantism/Pentecostalism, and traditional religions. Finally, it explores inter-religious relations.
Ethiopia Insight published on 7 December 2023 a commentary titled "Hararis in Harar Are Being Erased and Dispossessed" by Abdullah Sherif, a leader of the Harari community in Toronto.
The author argues that Oromo extremism poses an existential threat to Hararis in Harar. Given their small numbers (well under one percent of Ethiopia's population), constant intimidation, and abandonment by the central government, Hararis in Harar are suffering in silence. Harari culture is being appropriated, its land and property stolen, and politics undermined.
The Mogadishu-based Heritage Institute published in June 2023 a report titled "Transforming Somalia's Banking Sector to Ignite Economic Growth: Status and Ways Forward" by Uweis Ali.
This report examines the state of the banking sector in Somalia with a focus on key bottlenecks to transforming the sector and offers policy options to address them.
Ethiopia Insight published on 22 January 2023 a commentary titled "Ethiopian Nation-building Is Haunted by Its Troubled History" by Muktar Ismail, former advisor to the Somali Regional government and former UN staff member.
The author argues that Ethiopia has not had a history of a deliberate program to build national unity. Internal conflicts that arose over a century ago continue to this day. The wars in Tigray and Oromia are examples of this history. Ethiopia needs to launch a transitional justice and reconciliation process with the aim to end its culture of impunity around past and present abuses.
Global Policy published on 27 July 2022 an analysis titled "Algeria and China: Shifts in Political and Military Relations" by Yahia H. Zoubir.
The author looks at China's political and military relations with Algeria through role theory that incorporates the notion of hedging. He concludes that though each partner has fulfilled the other's expectations, China has not fully done so regarding the conflict in Western Sahara without, however, resulting in distrust or tensions between the two.
CBS did a brief interview titled "Grandpa Was an Emperor" with Yeshi Kassa, granddaughter of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and now a New York banker, concerning an upcoming documentary about Haile Selassie. The details of the documentary are still being worked out, but based on this interview it sounds like it will be worth the wait.
The Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College Press published in July 2022 an edited volume titled Enabling a More Externally Focused and Operational PLA that contains a chapter titled "'Only with Deep Roots Can a Tree Yield Rich Fruit': The People's Liberation Army in Africa" by Paul Nantulya.
The author explores the origins of the PLA's involvement in Africa in support of African liberation movements. He looks at the tactics and tools of engagement, the thinking behind them, and case studies in Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Algeria, and Egypt.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) posted on 22 June 2022 "Al-Shabaab Militancy in Somalia: A Timeline."
The ICG has developed an interactive timeline beginning in 2006 that explains how al-Shabaab came into existence and how it evolved.
Foreign Policy published on 18 June 2022 a commentary titled "Christian Nationalism Is Tearing Ethiopia Apart" by Andrew DeCort.
Evangelicalism is exploding in Ethiopia today. The Evangelicals see Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as the 7th King or at least a useful tool for their ambitions. The author concluded that in his two decades studying and working in Ethiopia he has "never seen such bitter hatred and raw hopelessness." He fears that violence on the scale of Rwanda could erupt.
The Conversation published on 29 March 2022 a commentary titled "Ethiopia's War in Tigray Risks Wiping Out Centuries of the World's History" by Hagos Abrha Abay, University of Hamburg.
The author comments on the damage to Ethiopia's cultural heritage in Tigray region attributed to the ongoing civil war.
Addis Insight published on 19 December 2021 an essay titled "Ethiopia: Where Two World Wars Began and the Third is Brewing" by Elias Wondimu, CEO of Tsehai Publishers.
After reviewing Ethiopia's role in World War I and World War II, the author asks: "Might Ethiopia Be Where the Third World War Begins?"
Comment: While the essay attaches more importance to the historical role of Ethiopia in global affairs than I believe it merits, it does remind us that Ethiopia has been a significant factor in global politics for at least 125 years.
The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training published a commentary titled "The Last Emperor--The Fall of Haile Selassie."
This is a collection of recollections by American diplomats associated with Ethiopia during the final years of Emperor Haile Selassie's reign. They recorded their memory of events years after moving on to other positions, often after retirement from the State Department.
The French Institute of International Relations published in September 2021 a study titled "From Friends to Partners? The Changing Nature of Sino-Tanzanian Relations" by Muhidin Shangwe, University of Dar es Salaam.
China has a long and positive relationship with Tanzania, but challenges have emerged around the issues of trade imbalance, debt burden, natural resource exploitation, and illegal activities by nationals of both countries.
