Book launch & discussion: The Abiy Project: God, Power and War in the New Ethiopia
Hybrid event: to join the webinar, please register using the link below.
In 2018, Ethiopia and the world were in the throes of ‘Abiymania’, a fervour of popular support for the divided country’s young, charismatic new prime minister. Arriving as if from nowhere, Abiy Ahmed, a Pentecostal Christian, promised democratic salvation and national unity. For his role brokering a historic peace with neighbouring Eritrea, he received the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. Hailed at home as a prophet and abroad as a liberal reformer, Abiy was all things to all men.

But his democratic revolution wasn’t quite what it seemed. Within two years, Ethiopia had lurched into a devastating civil war, threatening state collapse. By 2023, fighting on an apocalyptic scale had killed hundreds of thousands in the northern Tigray region; famine stalked the land; and Ethiopia’s once-promising economy lay in tatters. But Abiy had never looked stronger.

Based on hundreds of interviews with Ethiopians of all persuasions, and extensive reporting across the country, this book traces the fading hope of Ethiopia’s transition, unravelling the paradoxes of an enigmatic world leader. Despite everything, Abiy remains in power, embodying the new Ethiopia in all its contradiction, triumph and tragedy. But his attempt to remould the country in his image almost broke it—and may break it still.

www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-abiy-project – USE CODE GARDNER25 FOR 25% OFF FROM 10 JUNE
Date: 12 June 2024, 16:00
Venue: 13 Bevington Road, 13 Bevington Road OX2 6NB
Venue Details: Seminar room, African Studies Centre
Speakers: Tom Gardner (Economist), Terje Østebø (University of Florida)
Organising department: Centre for African Studies
Organiser: Jason Mosley (University of Oxford)
Part of: Northeast Africa Forum seminar series
Booking required?: Recommended
Booking url: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/a60a32dc-7649-48d3-b922-1a82776768a1@cc95de1b-97f5-4f93-b4ba-fe68b852cf91
Audience: Public
Editor: Jason Mosley