The Dilemma of Post-Adwa Ethiopia’s Foreign Policy: Victories in Military Battlefields VS. Setbacks in Diplomacy
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2025-11-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The study attempted to examines the underlying factor behind why successive Ethiopian regimes are constrained in their foreign policy and diplomatic negotiations albeit their victories in military battlefields. Accordingly, the thesis argues that internal, regional and global political dynamics affect Ethiopia‟s foreign policymaking and executions in post-Adowa period. The study used secondary sources of data; collected from relevant archives, documents, and literature. To substantiate and supplement the secondary data, the study also used primary data collected through key informant interview. Given the data gathered are qualitative, the study employed qualitative data analysis techniques. The finding of the study revealed that there is inseparable connection found between the military engagements of the Ethiopian state and the corresponding diplomatic strategies that have been employed in the post-war diplomacy period. Despite, a shift in orientation and style of foreign policy, domestic factors, and external factors remain the defining factors that constrains Ethiopian foreign policymaking and executions of post Adwa period. Beholding the trajectory of Ethiopian foreign policy post Adwa period, there is continuity amidst change. As a continuity, the core objective of ensuring national survival, territorial integrity, and regime survival remains a constant. Domestic and external factors consistently interact to shape the post Adwa period Ethiopian foreign policy and diplomacy. As a change, an "inside-out," economic diplomacy-oriented strategy (post-1991) that prioritises economic development and regional economic integration has replaced the military/security-focused "outside-in" approach (pre-1991). The use of military engagements giving way to multilateral diplomacy based on soft power.
Key words: War, Diplomacy, Ethiopia, Military, Foreign policy.
Description
Keywords
War, Diplomacy, Ethiopia, Military, Foreign policy.