Published November 30, 2011 | By Colston Reid

Ethiopia enjoys the status of one of the most stable countries in Africa. Headed by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, his government has won support from the west for working to curb their reliance on foreign aid. However, opposition protesters content that the regime is intolerant to dissent. Ethiopia has one of the fastest growing non-oil based economies in Africa, nonetheless it is still heavily dependent on agriculture which is often affected by drought. Tensions with Eritrea persist since it broke away from Ethiopia is 1993. Neither side acknowledges the border established during the peace talks. As a key U.S. ally in the region, Ethiopian troops participated in joint operations during 2006 to oust Islamists militants in control of Southern Somalia. Their formal presence in the country ended in 2009.

Published October 31, 2011 | By Colston Reid

Chad is currently threatened by regional and domestic instability. Rebel forces remain a destabilizing force in the country, though cross-border attacks between Sudanese and Chadian militias have decreased following a peace agreement between the two countries. Around half a million refugees and IDPs remain in the eastern region of Chad. The humanitarian crisis has been exacerbated by continued pressure on food and water supplies in the region. Although Chad’s oil revenues have the potential to contribute to poverty reduction, they are just as likely to be siphoned off by corrupt officials, perpetuating the Deby government’s illegitimacy and lack of accountability. The UN’s MINURCAT mission that was stationed in Chad (and the Central African Republic) withdrew from the country at the end of 2010, at the request of the Chadian government.

August 19, 2011
By Colston Reid
The Fund for Peace Commentary

“The people want to change the regime.” It was the chant which started in Tunisia and quickly spread across the Arab World. But nowhere did these words resonate more strongly than in Egypt where angry protesters remained stoic in the face of increasingly brutal repression by government forces loyal to President Hosni Mubarak. For 18 days President Mubarak clung to the last vestiges of power before fading into history, not as a celebrated hero like Anwar al Sadat or Gamal Abdel Nasser before him, but as an impotent despot out of touch with the changing face of his nation.

Egypt has known no other leader for nearly thirty years. It then comes as no surprise that February’s protests, which led to Mubarak’s ouster, where fueled in large part by Egypt’s youth. Unemployed and disenfranchised these well-educated twenty-somethings were constantly reminded of the Egypt their grandparents knew: wealthy, strong, and the ideological cornerstone of the Arab World. The Egypt they know today is far different: poor, repressive and corrupt.

Published August 16, 2011 | By Joelle Burbank, Nate Haken, Colston Reid

For the second time since the end of their devastating civil war, Liberian voters will go to the polls to democratically elect their president. The general election, scheduled for October 2011, will decide the presidency, all seats in the House of Representatives, and half the seats in the Senate. Although Liberia has come a long way since the end of the civil war, many challenges remain, including corruption, weak public services, and crime. Liberia has also been affected by external factors such as spillover from the recent violence in neighboring Cote d’Ivoire. Many people, both in Liberia and abroad, see the upcoming elections as an important test of Liberia’s progress towards democracy and stability.

This report is a summary of incidents and issues from February to May 2011, as reported by a network of local civil society representatives in Liberia who have been trained in conflict assessment. The project engages local civil society for better conflict assessment, early warning, and prevention.