Tag Archives: Ethiopia

Scholars’ Circle – Horn of Africa Famine Explained and UK Politics of the New Prime Minister – August 9, 2026

August 9, 2026 host

The Greater Horn of Africa, in Northeastern Africa, faces severe food insecurity. In Sudan 19 million-plus people are facing acute hunger, including 825,000 children under five who are expected to suffer from Severe Acute Malnutrition in 2026. In addition, 12-14 million people are experiencing severe food insecurity in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. What are the root causes and immediate effects of this famine? How can the world help address food insecurity in the region? [ dur: 27mins. ]

Merry Fitzpatrick is Research Assistant Professor at the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University. She has more than 20 years of field experience in humanitarian response. She has worked with multiple humanitarian agencies, including the International Rescue Committee, GOAL Ireland, Food for the Hungry and World Concern. She is co-author of “Five levels of famine prevention: towards a framework for the twenty‐first century and beyond” and her latest, published in the Conversation, is “Conflict, climate, and disease form convergent crises in the Greater Horn of Africa”.

The United Kingdom has a new Prime Minister. He is the 7th Prime Minister in the last decade, a remarkable instability for the nation. Who is Andy Burnham? Why did he replace Kier Starmer? Why has the UK had such instability? Does Brexit play a role? Lastly, we explore Burnham’s leadership and its potential impacts on the future of the UK. [ dur: 31mins. ]

Patrick Diamond is Professor in Pubic Policy in the School of Sociology, Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary University of London. He is Chair of the think-tank Policy Network. He is the co-author of Warring Factions: Labour’s Civil Wars: How infighting has kept the Left from power (and what can be done about it) and author of The British Labour Party in Opposition and in Power 1979-2019: Forward March Halted?

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Sudd Dongre and Anna Lapin.

Agriculture, Food and Nutrition, Governance / Law, War, United Kingdom, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Famine

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Somaliland and Ethiopia relations affects Horn of Africa region; Niger Coup side steps democracy – February 4, 2024

February 4, 2024 host

Ethiopia is the first nation to recognize a breakaway region of Somalia called Somaliland since its declaration of independence 33 years ago. Why did Ethiopia recognize it and what does it mean for peace in the region.

Markus Virgil Hoehne is a lecturer at the Institute of Social Anthropology at the University of Leipzig. He is the author of Between Somaliland and Puntland: Marginalization, Militarization and Conflicting Political Visions and is co-editor of Borders and Borderlands as Resources in the Horn of Africa with Dereje Feyissa and Co-Editor of Dynamics of Identification and Conflict: Anthropological Encounters.
Aleksi Ylönen is a researcher at the Center for International Studies, Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, a professor at the United States International University-Africa, and an associate fellow at the HORN International Institute for Strategic Studies. He is the author of External power competition in the Horn of Africa: Somaliland’s quest for international recognition and development and Inheriting power: Somaliland’s political institutions and the 2017 presidential election.

Niger’s promising democracy was toppled by a military coup last year. We revisit the causes of the coup to remind us of the need for continuing pressure on military governments to return to democracy and the rule of law.

Brett Logan Carter is Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Southern California. He is the author of “Can Western Donors Constrain Repressive Governments? Evidence from Debt Relief Negotiations in Africa” , “Propaganda in Autocracies: Institutions, Information, and the Politics of Belief” ( co-authored with Erin Baggott Carter ).

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian and Sudd Dongre.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Ethiopia and Tigray Region Crisis, cause and effect on regional politics – July 11, 2021

July 11, 2021 host

War has broken out in Northern Ethiopia in the Tigray region. What is the cause, and what are the implications for the nation and the region? What are the prospects for peace and what can international actors do to facilitate this process? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Ann Fitz-Gerald is the Director of the Balsillie School of International Affairs and a Professor in Wilfrid Laurier University’s Political Science Department. She is the author of Ethiopia in Turmoil, Ethiopia: A New Proxy Battlespace? and As G7 Leaders Gather, Canada Should Not “Blindly Follow” U.S. Lead on Africa.
Aly Verjee is a nonresident senior advisor to the Africa program at the U. S. Institute of Peace. He is the author of Five Steps to Sustain a Cease-Fire in Northern Ethiopia and What Ethiopia’s Brewing Conflict Means for the Country—and the Region.
Yohannes Gedamu is Lecturer of Political Science at Georgia Gwinnett College. He is the author of the forthcoming book The Politics of Contemporary Ethiopia: Ethnic Federalism and Authoritarian Survival.

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The Scholars' Circle Interviews

Tag Archives: Ethiopia

Scholars’ Circle – Horn of Africa Famine Explained and UK Politics of the New Prime Minister – August 9, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – Somaliland and Ethiopia relations affects Horn of Africa region; Niger Coup side steps democracy – February 4, 2024

Scholars’ Circle – Ethiopia and Tigray Region Crisis, cause and effect on regional politics – July 11, 2021

By Maria Armoudian