Ethnic Conflict in Ethiopia

Abstract or Introduction

The interaction among people across the globe has been passed through different stages to get to today’s shape and form. The process of modernization, technological advancement, and changes in patterns of subsistence have been creating disagreements among different groups of people. Over time, collectivism, tolerance and mutual understanding have been deteriorated, and individualism and selfishness ascended. Such a shift in perception and pattern of life leads to various kinds of conflicts. One of the major conflicts among a group of people is an ethnic conflict. Ethnic conflict defined as a situation in which two or more actors undertake unsuited, yet entirely desirable goal from their individual perspectives that the goals of at least one party are defined in exclusively ethnic terms (Karl Cordell and Stefan Wolff, 2009). Even though the conflict can arise in any group of people, nations with multiethnic groups like Ethiopia are highly vulnerable to the risk.

Ethiopia, located in the Horn of Africa, embraces more than eighty-five ethnic groups having diversified language and cultural heritage. In the year 1991, following the downfall of Derg , Ethiopia’s ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), took power. The coalition has created ethnolinguistically organized regional states of the federal republic. Since then, though the degree and intensity vary, ethnic conflict has been a common phenomenon in the country. For ease and clear understanding, this paper will focus on the ethnic conflict between Oromo – the largest ethnic group and Gedio ethnic group. The ethnic groups are located in southern Ethiopia. Associated with ethnic federalism, several reasons have been contributing to the conflict. To understand more about the Oromo and Gedio ethnic groups conflict, it is necessary to discuss the underlying reasons for the conflict, the linkage of the conflict with economic and political power, and changes revealed on the ethnic identities over time.