Ethiopia in the Wake of Political Reforms [978-1-59-907251-7]

$59.95



Author : Melaku G. Desta, et. al.



ISBN Code : 978-1-59-907251-7
Language : English
Pages number : 616
Format : Paperback

**NOTE: Customers in the US or Europe can order the book to be delivered to any address in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia**

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

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