Ethiopia could become among the world’s most fragile states

From: Semere Asmelash <semereasmelash_at_ymail.com_at_dehai.org>
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2016 16:02:28 +0000 (UTC)

Ethiopia could become among the world’s most fragile states

October 21, 2016

American Enterprise Institute, a Washington DC based think tank, said Ethiopia is among ten countries in the world that its stability can’t be taken for granted.

Ethiopia. Two and a half times the size of California, Ethiopia is one of the world’s oldest countries but, despite an increasingly autocratic and repressive leadership projecting an aura of stability, it looks like it could be among the world’s most fragile states. While the economy has grown rapidly, poverty remains the rule as the population also booms. The agricultural basis of the economy makes Ethiopia susceptible to drought. State-dominated industries mean it competes poorly with the outside world. The country is incredibly diverse. In 1991, Eritrea successfully seceded after a decades-long civil war. While Eritrea had its own colonial heritage, many other ethnic groups are as resentful of Addis Ababa’s control and, specifically, ethnic Tigrean domination. Of greater concern, however, is Ethiopia’s sectarian division. Muslims already represent a third of the population and are growing at a faster rate than the Ethiopian Christian population. Should ethnic and sectarian divisions erupt into open conflict, the resulting insecurity could make Somalia look like Club Med.

Read the full report

https://www.aei.org/publication/ten-countries-whose-stability-cant-be-taken-for-granted/
Received on Fri Oct 21 2016 - 20:44:07 EDT

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