Ethiopia’s national dialogue

The report argues that Ethiopia's national dialogue initiative is hindered by a fundamental clash between a 'deliberative' approach favored by the government—which seeks a rational consensus to resolve differences—and the reality of a severely divided society characterized by deep-seated historical injustices. The author contends that the process will only succeed if stakeholders shift toward an 'agonistic' model that focuses on transforming antagonistic relations into adversarial politics and reckoning with the past, rather than attempting to manufacture a final consensus on fundamental national issues.

• The Ethiopian government and opposition parties hold diametrically opposed visions of the national dialogue, with disagreements rooted in different conceptual frameworks rather than mere procedural disputes.
• The Ethiopian state has failed to address historical wrongs, leading to a political environment defined by a dichotomy of 'the dominant' and 'the dominated' or 'the oppressor' and 'the oppressed'.
• The government's approach is based on deliberative democracy, which aims for a 'rational consensus' to resolve fundamental issues, a goal the author describes as 'political naiveté' given Ethiopia's deep socio-structural cleavages.
• The author advocates for an 'agonistic' approach to dialogue, which accepts that conflict is inherent and seeks to transform 'antagonism into agonism' and 'enemies to adversaries' rather than eliminating conflict through consensus.
• A successful national dialogue in Ethiopia requires a 'relational' and 'transformative' process that focuses on changing inter-group relationships and reckoning with collective memory, rather than just making policy decisions.
• There is a profound trust deficit between the government and opposition, evidenced by the opposition's demand for third-party facilitators and their fears that the commission will be used to impose a hegemonic government narrative.
• The National Dialogue Commission's 'bottom-up' strategy of convening 6,000 public conversations is criticized for assuming that political fault lines are primarily elite-driven and for ignoring horizontal inter-communal tensions.
• The report concludes that it is unlikely a national dialogue can fully resolve Ethiopia's political divisions on 'fundamental national issues'; the most realistic goal is a 'conflictual consensus' on democracy and constitutionalism.

APA

Yared, T. (2022). Ethiopia’s national dialogue. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/EAR-47-2.pdf

Chicago

Yared, Tegbaru. Ethiopia’s national dialogue. Institute for Security Studies, 2022. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/EAR-47-2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Yared |first1=Tegbaru |title=Ethiopia’s national dialogue |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=November 2022 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/EAR-47-2.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yared2022ethiopias, author = {Yared, Tegbaru}, title = {{Ethiopia’s national dialogue}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/EAR-47-2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }