International Journal of Ethiopian Studies (IJES) is an interdisciplinary, refereed journal dedicated to scholarly research relevant to or informed by the Ethiopian experience. IJES publishes two issues a year of original work in English and Amharic to readers around the world.

Established in 2002, the IJES is dedicated to the research and study of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. The journal contains original articles, reviews, and features filled with relevant, in-depth information on important issues. It serves as a venue for the sharing and cross fertilization of research by scholars working on issues that matter to the region and promotes important voices internationally.

PUBLISHER & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Elias Wondimu, Loyola Marymount University

SENIOR EDITORS

Alemayehu Gebremariam, California State University, San Bernardi

Maimire Mennasemay, Dawson College

Theodore Vestal, Oklahoma State University

BOOK REVIEW EDITOR

Fikru Gebrekidan, St. Thomas University

Editorial Statement

ESSAYS

1. The Dichotomy between Reality and Rhetoric in African Politics: Placing Ethiopia in the ‘Continental’ Pan-African Movement. By Belete Belachew Yihun

2. Critical Reflections on an Oromo Aphorism and Emancipation. By Maimire Mennasemay

3. The Politics of the Imposed and Negotiation of the Emerging Nile Basin Regime. By Aaron Tesfaye

4. The Quest for Equitable Resolution of the Nile Waters Dispute: Wandering in the Wilderness? By Dereje Zeleke Mekonnen

5. Politics and Religion in Haile Selassie’s Ethiopia: Apogee and Crisis of a Confessional African State (1916-1974). By Paolo Borruso

BOOK REVIEWS

1. Republicans on the Throne: a Personal Account of Ethiopia’s Modernization and Painful Quest for Democracy. By Tekalign Gedamu

2. Soaring on Winged Verse: The Life of Ethiopian Poet-Playwright Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin. By Fasil Yitbarek

3. From Tyranny to Anarchy: The Somali Experience. By Hussein M. Adam

DOSSIER

• Editor’s Note: “Kililistanization” of Ethiopia: The Coming to Pass of Roman Prochazka’s Prescription. By Alemayehu G. Mariam

• Abyssinia: The Powder Barrel: A Book on the Most Burning Question of the Day. By Paron Roman Prochazka

IN MEMORIAM

1. Tadesse Tamrat

2. Yonas Admassu

3. Donald Crummey

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Year 2009

Notes to Contributors

Africa’s Cultural Ambassador, African knowledge broker, and Continental Bridge Builder are just few of the names Elias Wondimu was called in his life in the United States. After careful examination of the American media landscape and book market, an exiled journalist from Ethiopia, Wondimu discovered that stories and subjects from Africa or its residents in the diaspora are tagged negatively, ignoring the positive, subtleties and nuances that define them. As a solution, he started a media company—TSEHAI Publishers, which gives socially responsible publications and fill the void that exists in the market place. Wondimu often says that he doesn’t have a five years plan but of fifty, that aims to empower the next generation; so that they become the change that we want to see in the world.