The Implication of The Us Responses on The War in Northern Ethiopia
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Date
2022-12
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This thesis argues that coercive peacebuilding has its drawbacks in that it has the possibility of
further escalating the conflict and at the same time risking the stability of the country in conflict.
Since November 2020 Ethiopia has been experiencing a civil war, which was initially considered
a ‗law enforcement operation‘ that is to take a few weeks, in its northernmost region of Tigray.
The war brought about a great loss to Ethiopia. The destruction of property, loss of human life,
internal displacement and risk of famine are among the most mentioned. However, apart from
these, the war has also brought internal fragmentation that has threatened the existence of the
state. The war, in principle, is being fought between the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) and the
Tigray People‘s Liberation Front (TPLF). However, there are a plethora of actors that are
involved both directly and indirectly. Actors such as Eritrea, Amhara regional forces and militia
(Fano) and other regional forces have been involved directly. On the other hand, actors such as
the US, EU, AU and UN have been involved indirectly by giving responses and/or taking actions.
This thesis in particular focuses on the responses the US gave to the war. It tries to examine the
implication of the US response to peacebuilding efforts in regard to the war. In order to do this
the thesis classifies the war into four phases marked by distinct events in the war. This thesis
finds that the US responses aimed at bringing peace to Ethiopia through coercive means using
both its soft and hard powers. Despite these coercive measures things did not go the way the US
planned it would go. The US employed coercive measures consisting of diplomatic, military and
economic/financial pressures to compel the warring parties to halt hostility. Among these
measures, military coercion can be considered the most successful despite having faced hefty
resistance from the GoE and the Ethiopian public as well. Although the economic/financial
measures had brought some degree of behavioural change in the GoE, the coercive policies of
the US were more of a gamble or calculated risk that could have gone terribly wrong and further
worsened the situation in Ethiopia. The thesis used digital ethnography where data was collected
from official websites and accounts of persons and organisations involved in the conflict as well
as news outlets to draw upon the conclusion.