Medhane Tadesse

Medhane TadesseMedhane Tadesse is a Visiting Professor at the African Leadership Centre, Kings College London. He is an academic specialist on peace and security issues in Africa who has researched extensively on civil wars, the Governance of Security, Political Islam and interstate conflicts. A veteran political analyst in the Horn of Africa he has written widely and on a variety of issues and assumed high profile advisory position, at a young age, on one of the most complicated and intractable conflicts in Africa, Somalia. He was, among others, advisor to the President of Somaliland and the Ethiopian Foreign Minister in the mid-1990s. He is also a columnist and frequent commentator on global and regional security issues, and is the editor of The Current Analyst, an online journal that examines issues of peace and security in Africa.

Medhane played a crucial role in familiarizing the Governance of Security at both research and policy levels. Drafted and developed the Horn of African Strategy for Security Sector Reform/SSR/; provided extensive support to the African Union Commission in conceptualizing, drafting and finalizing its Policy Framework on SSR; organized and chaired the Development of National Security Policy for the new Republic of South Sudan a; led the Review Process of Juba University’s Capacity on Peace and Security Studies and designed the plan for Building the Capacity of the University of Juba on Security Sector Transformation.

An early student of Somali Islamists and the threat of radicalization in Africa,  Medhane has taught at various universities in Ethiopia and abroad and has written extensively on African security and related topics, spawning four books, over 160 briefing papers, articles, commentaries and policy memos. He served as an advisor to governments, political and armed groups, and sits on the board of directors of several peace and security related institutions including the African Security Sector Network (ASSN), the African leadership Centre (ALC) and is a Senior SSR Advisor to the African Union.

Medhane has been a guest and key note speaker on Global Peace and Security, African Conflicts, Radicalization and the Governance of the Security Sector in more than 75 venues around the Globe, delivering briefings from NATO Headquarters to the Chinese Communist Party, from World Bank headquarters to US (Kelly) military barracks, from the British parliament to the US State Department and Angolan parliaments.

Areas of Research Interests:

  • Radicalization and Political Islam
  • The Governance of Security
  • The African State

Publications

Books:

1998. The Ethiopia-Eritrea War: Retrospect and Prospects. The Making Of Conflict in the Horn of Africa, 1991-1998. Mega Publishers, A.A. Ethiopia.

2003. Al-Ittihad: Political Islam and Black economy in Somalia. Religion,Clan and Money and the Struggle for Supremacy over Somalia. Mega Publishers, A.A. Ethiopia.

2004. Turning Conflicts to Cooperation: Towards an energy-ledIntegration in the Horn of Africa. Published by Friedrich EbertStiftung, Bonn/Addis.2006. The Quest for Conflict Settlement in Ethiopia’s Periphery. FriedrichEbert Stiftung, Bonn/Addis.

2004. Conflict and Conflict Resolution in the Horn of Africa. Text Book. For Defense Higher College. January 2006.Addis Ababa. Ethiopia.

 
Publications:                                            

• "Change and Continuity in Djiboutian Foreign Policy" in in K. G. Adar and P. J. Schraeder (eds), Globalization and Emerging Trends in African Foreign Policy, vol. 2, Washington DC: University Press of America. 2007.

• ‘Gambella: The Impact of local Conflict on Regional Security’: Researching Local Conflicts and Regional Security.ISS/CPRD,2008.Pretoria,South Africa.• “Making Sense of Ethiopian Regional Influence” in Understanding Contemporary Ethiopia. Oxford University Press, May 2015

.• "New Security Frontiers in the Horn of Africa". In Security in the Globalized World. Briefing Papers by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. Bonn. June 2004.

• "Overcoming Challenges for Security Sector Reform in the Horn of Africa". In ISS Monograph Series, No.135, May 2007.

• ‘Religion, Peace and the Future of Ethiopia’. First National Conference on Federalism, Conflict and Peace Building. The Ministry of Federal Affairs and GTZ.Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. May 2003.

• Sharia Courts and Military Politics in Stateless Somalia. In Hot Spots Horn of Africa Revisited: Approaches to Make Sense of Conflict. Transaction Publishers LIT VERLAG, Berlin 2008.• The African Union and Security Sector Reform: A Review of the Post-conflict Reconstruction and Development/PCRD/Policy. April 2009.FES, Bonn.• Ethiopia and the African Peer Review Mechanism: A Path to Nowhere? A Publication of Open Society Foundations. Johannesburg, South Africa. July 2011.

• “The Conduct of Ethiopian Foreign Policy: From TPLF Political Bureau to Meles Zenawi”, in K. G. Adar and P. J. Schraeder (eds), Globalization and Emerging Trends in African Foreign Policy, vol. 2, Washington DC: University Press of America. 2007.

• The Djibouti-Eritrea Conflict: Briefing. The Inter Africa Group/IAG/. March 2008.• “The Tigray Peoples Liberation Front” in Understanding Contemporary Ethiopia. Oxford University Press, May 2015.

• Towards Conflict Resolution Best Practices in Africa Report of the 2008 Tswalu Dialogue. The Royal United Services Institute/RUSI/.November 2008.• "TPLF: Reform or Decline": In Review of African political Economy.London.N.97.389-403.  

• "Traditional Mechanisms of Conflict resolution versus State Intervention: The Borana Oromo and Merihan Somalis in Ethiopia". In Transformation of Resource Conflicts: Approach and Instrument. Bern.2002.

• "UN Peace Keeping in the Horn: Problems & Prospects." From Global Apartheid to Global Village-Africa and the United Nations. University of Kwazulu Natal Press 2009.

• "What will it take to create an Effective African Union”.OSSREA Publications.V.21 No 2.June 2003?

News

Africa Week Opening Keynote and Open Debate

Africa Week Opening Keynote and Open Debate

02 March 2024

Is African Agency for sale, for hire or self-renewal? How can Africa shape the UN Summit of the Future? The African Leadership Centre (ALC) invites you to the King’s Africa Week 2024 (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/africa-week) opening Keynote and Open Debate titled: “Is African Agency for Sale, for hire or self-renewal? How can Africa shape the UN Summit of the Future?” Time: 17:30 to 20:00 GMT Date: 4 March 2024 Venue: Bush House, Central Block 8th Floor, Strand...

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