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Ethiopia is in the midst of unprecedented and sweeping reforms taking place at lightning speed. Close observers of the reform process are deeply divided. Some are excited, inspired and energized; others are skeptical, despondent and even scared. A glance merely at the headlines on mainstream and social media in the past couple of years is suggestive of how polarized the political discourse in and about the country has become, often painting the situation in highly contrasting colours: the country is either ascending to the heights of a free and democratic republic or descending to the depths of autocracy; launching itself on a new path of sustained prosperity or on a downward spiral to ever-deepening poverty; a thriving multiethnic federation in which its citizens live together in peace and harmony, or a ticking time bomb with the threat of disintegration along ethnic lines hovering up in its horizons; and a force for peace and stability in the Horn of Africa and beyond or a country divided from within and facing the imminent threat of civil war that can easily spiral onto the rest of the sub-region to threaten international peace and security.

But, one thing is clear beyond doubt – everybody agrees that, for better or for worse, Ethiopia is at a historic turning point. Following the political transition in April 2018, the current administration launched all-encompassing reforms at breakneck speed and set in motion a transformation of the political, social and economic fabric of the state along with its relations with the rest of the world. These changes are, rightly, often described as unprecedented in the long and turbulent history of the country. In a remarkable feat of political management, the 2018 transition brought a new leadership to office largely — if not entirely – through a non-violent internal political process that evokes the image of an egg opening from within to give birth to a new form of life. Also unprecedented is that the new leadership, instead of proclaiming a radical revolutionary agenda that repudiates and rejects everything from the past and starting with a clean slate, adopted a vision of the future that integrates, and builds on, its positive accomplishments.

Where this change leads, only time will tell; but, there is little doubt that that destination is in the hands of the Ethiopian people, that they are the masters of their own destiny. Ethiopia in the Wake of Political Reforms is about making a modest contribution to that goal; it is about interrogating, understanding, conceptualizing and explaining the core components of the reform process systematically, independently, and rigorously. To that end, the book brings together contributions from a multi-disciplinary team of over twenty scholars and practitioners with acknowledged expertise in the areas of political and economic reform, federalism and nation building, as well as foreign and security policy. The resulting analysis contained in the book, organized in four parts and twenty chapters, is rich, insightful, challenging, and refreshing.

One shared theme appears to emerge from all parts and chapters of the book – that, while the reforms unleashed in April 2018 have promised a new chapter in Ethiopia’s centuries-old efforts to lay down the foundations for democratic peace and prosperity based on equality and rule of law, Ethiopia’s history teaches us that success cannot be taken for granted even now, once again calling for continued effort and vigilance to ensure promises are honoured, citizens recognized and respected, and office holders held accountable before the law.

Acknowledgments

Introduction. By Melaku Geboye Desta, Dereje Feyissa Dori, and Mamo Esmelealem Mihretu

PART ONE | Political Reform

1.1 The Ethiopian State’s Long Struggle for Reform. By Christopher Clapham

1.2 Rethinking Transitology Structural Influencers of Political Change in Ethiopia. By Semir Yusuf

1.3 Republican Renewal and Democratic Transition in Ethiopia: Medemer, a Lofty Mantra or a Laïcité for Contemporary Ethiopia? By Kebadu Mekonnen Gebremariam

1.4 Ethiopia at the Juncture of Political Reform A Gendered Analysis. By Sehin Teferra

1.5 Civil Society in Ethiopia Reversing the Securitization of Civic Activism? By Camille Louise Pellerin

1.6 Choosing the Road and Smoothing the Bumps—the Media and Politics. By William Davison

1.7 Transitional Justice and Reconciliation in Ethiopia’s Hybrid Transition: The Case of the Reconciliation Commission. By Solomon Dersso

1.8 Restorative Justice Modalities What Can Be Learned about Peace and Reconciliation from Imperial Ethiopia? By Charles Schaefer

PART TWO | Economic Reform

2.1 From Histopia to Futopia: A Guide to a Successful Economic Transition in Ethiopia. By Lars Christian Moller

2.2 The Case for the State-Private Partnership Model of Development for Ethiopia. By Berhanu Abegaz

2.3 The Political Economy of Land Policy in Ethiopia Evolving Rationales and Challenges of State Ownership. By Tom Lavers

2.4 Ethiopia Beyond Middle Income Transforming the National Mindset. Kenichi Ohno

PART THREE | Federalism and Nation Building

3.1 Ethiopia in Change Reinventing Narratives, Remaking a “Nation”. By Shimelis Bonsa Gulema

3.2 Taking Intergovernmental Relations Seriously? By Yonatan T. Fessha

3.3 Conflict-Induced Internal Displacement in an Ethnolinguistic Federal State Gedeo-Guji Displacement in West Guji and Gedeo Zones in Focus. By Nigusie Angessa 3.4 Between Hope and Despair Reflections on the Current Political Developments in Afar. By Abubeker Yasin

PART FOUR | Foreign and Security Policy

4.1 Ethiopia’s Defense Reform Agenda: Progress and Challenges. By Ann M. Fitz-Gerald

4.2 Eritrea-Ethiopia Rapprochement Benefits, Issues and Challenges. By Senai Woldeab

4.3 Neither Old nor New Ethio-Eritrean Relations through the Dawn of Change in Ethiopia. By Awet T. Weldemichael

4.4 Ethiopia’s Engagements with Its Fragile Neighbors An Examination of the Concept and Application of Buffer Zones as a Security Strategy in Ethiopia’s Relations with Somalia. ByAbdeta Dribssa Beyene

Contributors

This book is a timely collection of thoughtful essays that impacts political reform in Ethiopia and contributes to an understanding of the country’s challenges. It covers a wide range of issues by mostly Ethiopian authors. The excellent introduction effectively summarizes the book for time-challenged readers.

–David Shinn, Ph.D., Author of China and Africa: A Century of Engagement (2012 University of Pennsylvania Press)

Since April 2018, Ethiopia has been undergoing a process of reform that has been breathtaking in its speed and absorbing in its multi-faceted nature. Nor has the process yet been consummated. Attempting to analyze this reform process might thus be like attempting to hit a moving target. Yet, the editors of this volume have succeeded beyond expectations in assembling an array of scholars representing various disciplines to explore the political and economic dimensions of the reform as well as its implications for the federal arrangement and the country’s foreign policy. The authors delineate the historical setting of the reforms, analyze their various facets and almost invariably conclude by indicating the way forward. The interplay of agent and structure are analyzed and the inherent challenges of change coming from within highlighted. The volume is thus a handy companion to anyone who wants to gain a deeper understanding of the process of change that Ethiopia has been undergoing in the past two years or so.

–Bahru Zewde, Ph.D. Emeritus Professor of History, Addis Ababa University

The editors of this volume have assembled an extraordinary set of essays that provide the definitive account of the contentious processes of change in Ethiopia since 2018. The scholarship demonstrates deeply informed insights based on primary research, an understanding of the country’s rich histories and cultures, and engagement in the most important challenges Ethiopians face today. This volume will be valued by specialists and all seeking to understand the potential for transformation and the dangers that challenge this vitally important state. This book will be the touchstone for scholarship on contemporary Ethiopia for years to come.

–Terrence Lyons, Ph.D., Author of The Puzzle of Ethiopian Politics (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2019)

Melaku Geboye Desta is professor of international economic law at Leicester De Montfort Law School in England (since 2013), currently on leave working for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) as principal regional advisor in regional integration and trade. He is a lawyer by training and holds a PhD in international economic law. Melaku has published widely in the fields of international economic law and policy, with a particular focus on the interests of developing countries in general and those in Africa in particular. Melaku is a founding coeditor of the Ethiopian Yearbook of International Law (EtYIL), which has been published annually since 2016.

Dereje Feyissa Dori holds a PhD in social anthropology from Martin Luther University. He has been a research fellow of Osaka University, the Max Planck Institute, and the University of Bayreuth Centre of International Excellence “Alexander von Humboldt.” Currently he is a research and policy advisor to the Life & Peace Institute in Uppsala, Sweden. Dereje has extensive experience in research on a wide range of topics, such as ethnicity and conflict, religion and politics, the political economy of development, and borderland studies. He is the author and coeditor of several books, as well as numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes.

Mamo Esmelealem Mihretu is a senior adviser on policy reforms to the prime minister of Ethiopia and Ethiopia’s chief trade negotiator. Prior to taking his post in 2018, Mamo was a senior project manager at the World Bank Group from 2010 to 2018 and has more than sixteen years of experience in economic policy reforms. His past roles include lecturer at Addis Ababa University and other Ethiopian academic institutions. Mamo studied leadership, public administration, and economic development at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Additionally, he completed his postgraduate studies in law at the Universities of Pretoria and Amsterdam.

CONTRIBUTORS: Christopher Clapham, Semir Yusuf, Kebadu Mekonnen Gebremariam, Sehin Teferra, Camille Louise Pellerin, William Davison, Solomon Dersso, Charles Schaefer, Lars Christian Moller, Berhanu Abegaz, Tom Lavers, Kenichi Ohno, Shimelis Bonsa Gulema, Yonatan T. Fessha, Nigussie Angessa, Abubeker Yasin, Ann M. Fitz-Gerald, Senai Woldeab, Awet T. Weldemichael, and Abdeta Dribssa Beyene.