The recent defeat of Ethiopian government forces at the hands of rebels in Tigray in the country’s north has not ended the conflict that has threatened to tear Ethiopia apart. Rather, it has opened a veritable Pandora’s box of possibilities regarding where Ethiopia is headed next. Much will depend on whether a cease-fire can be negotiated and if food can get through to the hundreds of thousands of potential famine victims.
But much will also depend on how the outcome of the war in Tigray impacts the country’s wider politics. That’s because the embattled province of Tigray is a bellwether of Ethiopia’s very destiny. To understand why, it is necessary to explore Ethiopia as a geographical, cultural, and political concept, in all its considerable uniqueness.
