Ethiopia’s national dialogue: reconciling competing approaches

National dialogue could transform cleavages in Ethiopia’s divided society if processes are navigated well.

Convening a national dialogue in a highly volatile political environment will impact its potential success. To succeed, the National Dialogue Commission, the government and most opposition parties in Ethiopia must reconcile their conflicting concepts of national dialogue before the process starts. This report examines the competing conceptual frameworks used by political actors across the aisle, and situates the national dialogue initiative within the debates on contemporary theories of democracy.

About the author

Tegbaru Yared is a Researcher in the Horn of Africa Security and Analysis Programme at the ISS in Addis Ababa. His research focuses on ethnicity and nationalism, memory studies, conflict and peace studies and federalism.

Image: © Amelia Broodryk/ISS