Ethiopia's Insecurity Complex

Yonas Tariku (PhD) is an assistant professor and academic coordinator at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. He teaches theories of security, peacebuilding and conflict resolution. He teaches and researches in the areas of security, peacebuilding and conflict resolution. His latest publications include The Near Neighbors: Revisiting the Dynamics of Ethiopia’s Relations with Eritrea and Somalia (2025) and The Politics of National Liberation in Ethiopia: Origins of and Responses to State Weakness, Insecurity, and Insurgency (2024).Fana Gebresenbet (PhD) is an associate professor of development and peacebuilding and former director of the Institute for Peace and Security Studies, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. His research interest primarily focuses on the politics of development, political economy, migration and security studies in Ethiopia and the Horn. He has published articles and book chapters on these topics.

"This book provides a balanced and well-informed analysis of the multiple and interlocking sources of insecurity that are challenging the stability and even the survival of Africa’s oldest state. It is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand why Ethiopia is facing its current impasse, and hoping at least to find some way out of it."Christopher Clapham, Centre of African Studies, Cambridge University, UK."Yonas Tariku and Fana Gebresembet have assembled a group of excellent Ethiopian scholars in what will become the benchmark for understanding insecurity in that conflict-torn country for years to come. The editors ground the research in the concept of intra-state insecurity complex, which provides both theoretical insights and links the distinct but networked dynamics of political violence. The authors recognize the importance of specific identity and historical narratives but also propose an original and comparative framework for understanding Ethiopia. Each chapter is rigorously researched, nuanced, and builds upon the most contemporary research and, notably, Ethiopian-based scholars and sources. In addition to the contributions by the editors, the chapter by Tezera Tazebew is excellent and places the 2018 transition in a deeper historical context and the complexities of Oromo politics are illuminated by the primary research included in Urgessa Deressa Gutu and Debela Fituma. Awet Halefom does a superb job providing nuanced, empirical analysis of the key but contentious Tigray case. The book will be read with great interest by those interested in contemporary Ethiopia as well as African politics and security studies."Terrence Lyons, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University, USA."This book offers a theoretically rich and empirically grounded analysis of Ethiopia’s interlocking insecurities. It challenges dominant paradigms in security studies, such as the ‘ethnic security dilemma,’ by introducing the innovative concept of the ‘intrastate insecurity complex.’ Through a nuanced examination of the interplay among state, societal, and regime insecurities, and by combining both diachronic and synchronic perspectives, this volume provides vital insights for understanding the deeper, long-term dynamics of Ethiopian politics and conflict."Dereje Feyissa, Center for Federal and Governance Studies, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia."This volume is a must-read for all those who want to go beyond stereotypes and really understand how the current political crisis in Ethiopia has developed. The authors are proven experts on the subject and refuse to present simple answers. Instead, they emphasize the complexity of several dimensions of the conflict and the difficulties of doing political justice to them.“Ulf Engel, Professor of "Politics in Africa", Institute of African Studies, Leipzig University, Germany.

• Introduction: Intrastate Insecurity Complex: The Intricacies of State, Regime, and Societal Security Section I: The Fundamentals of Ethiopia’s (In)Security 1. Prisoners of the Political Past? Ethno-Nationalism and the Difficulty of Imagining a Common Future 2. Ethiopia’s National Security: Post-2018 Politico-Military Vulnerabilities and Threats Section II: Facilitating Insecurity: Elites, Technology and Political Economy 3. The Political Economy of Developmentalism: Distributive Crisis, Inequality, and Insecurity 4. Ethiopian Elites in Transition: Fragmentation, Polarisation and Insecurity Dynamics 5. Drone Discourse: Contemporary Technologies of Warfare in Ethiopia Section III: Understanding the Complex Web of Insecurity 6. From Protest Movements to Armed Insurgency: The Dynamics of Conflict and Insecurity in Oromia, Ethiopia 7. Amhara: Emerging Ethnic Nationalism and Insurgency 8. Tigray’s Dilemma: Historical Roots and Contemporary Dynamics 9. The Somali Region in Ethiopia’s Insecurity Complex: Towards Centring the Periphery? 10. Federalism, Insecurity and the Pursuit of an Own Ethnic Region in Southern Ethiopia Concluding Remarks: Intrastate Insecurity as a Complex Systemic Dynamics