ETHIOPIAN REGIONAL ASCENSION: ETHIOPIA’S FOREIGN POLICY FROM MENGISTU HAILÉ MARIAM TO ABIY AHMED ALI

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the conduct of the foreign policy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from the 1974 Revolution to the first year of Abiy Ahmed Ali's administration, investigating in the process to which the country's greatest political and economic openness is due. Through a bibliographic review, it appears that this process of political reopening occurs due to the needs of national development and the rise of a new head of state. The variables of analysis to verify this hypothesis would be the country's growth rate in recent decades, the approach to China, foreign investments in the country, privatization packages, diplomatic rapprochement with neighbors and diplomatic offensives. It is concluded in an assertive way that since the end of the Meles Zenawi’s administration, Ethiopia has gone through a phase of greater openness in the conduct of its foreign policy precisely because of the need for subsidies to national development. Finally, this work is justified in view of its effort to understand a recent political phenomenon in the interstate dynamics of East Africa.