Effectiveness of Ethiopia’s Counterterrorism Strategies in combating the Harakat al Shabaab al-Mujahideen
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Date
2022-06
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Addis Ababa University,
Abstract
Terrorism is the most controversial concept to understand among state and non-state actors.
That is why the saying “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” comes to the
front in its definition. Besides its unreconcilable debates, Terrorism is now a global issue
embedded in the international system. It is the most national security threat to Ethiopia.
Religious extremism-related terrorism has been historically inherent to Ethiopia as Islamic
extremist Al-Ittihad Al-Islamia later became Islamic Courts Union, and Al-Shabaab was
operated in the country since the 1990s. The main objective of this study is to assess the
effectiveness of Ethiopia’s Counterterrorism Strategy(ies) in combating al-Shabaab. To
generate and analyze data, the study employed a qualitative research approach. Ethiopia has
used its security sectors for counterterrorism and enacted legal and policy frameworks to
support its measures. As a result, Ethiopia stands out as being particularly successful in the
fight against Terrorism. Ethiopia employed Hard Power (the military approach) Approach to
counterterrorism, which is a short-term remedy. It overlooks the Soft Power Approach (the non military approach), the most effective strategy to deal with the issue in a long-lasting period