An historical overview of Ethiopia's transformation from a
multicultural empire into a modern nation state. Provides the gist
of one scholar's knowledge of this country acquired over several
decades. The author of numerous works on Ethiopia, Markakis
presents here an overarching, concise historical profile of a
momentous effort to integrate a multicultural empire into a modern
nation state. The concept of nation state formation provides the
analytical framework within which this process unfolds and the
changes of direction it takes under different regimes, as well as a
standard for assessing its progress and shortcomings at each stage.
Over a century old, the process is still far from completion and
its ultimate success is far from certain. In the author's view,
there are two major obstacles that need to be overcome, two
frontiers that need to be crossed to reach the desired goal. The
first is the monopoly of power inherited from the empire builders
and zealously guarded ever since by a ruling class of Abyssinian
origin. The descendants of the people subjugated by the empire
builders remain excluded from power, a handicap that breeds
political instability and violent conflict. The second frontier is
the arid lowlands on the margins of the state, where the process of
integration has not yet reached, and where resistance to it is
greatest. Until this frontier is crossed, the Ethiopian state will
not have the secure borders that a mature nation state requires.
John Markakis is a political historian who has devoted a
professional lifetime to the study of Ethiopia and its neighbours
in the Horn of Africa. He has published several books and many
articles on this area.
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