Views from the Horn of Africa: Conflict Management in Ethiopia – The Role of China and the UAE

This paper interrogates Ethiopia through an “Authoritarian Conflict Management” framework. Based on desktop research and 30 fieldwork interviews undertaken during and after the 2020–22 Tigray War, the paper asks: in Ethiopia, in what ways is the management of conflict and contestation influenced by the security-development interventions from China and the UAE? The research finds divergent local perceptions of China and the UAE’s influence on conflict management and statebuilding, shaped by their alignment and association with different regimes, and that The Tigray War significantly disrupted these perceptions. Overall, their impact hinges on how elites deploy their support and societal reactions therein.