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This article looks at the role of the main opposition party in Ethiopia, Kinijit, during the parliamentary elections of 2005. It shows that the election was unique in that it galvanized the people of Ethiopia to come out and vote en masse. Kinijit was mainly instrumental in mobilizing the people and provided hope for a political change towards democracy. They saw in Kinijit the capacity to lead the country as opposed to the ruling party, trusted it fully and were determined to follow its leadership. The voter turn-out was the highest in the history of the country. Kinijit won the elections but the ruling party rigged the results and declared itself the winner. Controversy arose and dragged on for months. Kinijit then resorted to a protest movement in the form of civil disobedience. The government took this as 'unconstitutional and as preparation for armed rebellion' and began a clamp-down. The entire leadership of Kinijit was imprisoned, and some 400 people were massacred as they demonstrated. Close to 17,000 others were thrown in jail and labor camps. This article examines the flaws in Kinijit's decision to resort to civil disobedience, looks at the consequences of the election for the process of democratization and at what that means in the fight against poverty and under-development. It singles out Kinijit's structural problems, such as insufficient institutional preparedness and lack of organizational structure in 2005, and suggests the strategic political course it should have taken.

Religious Appeals in Power Politics examines how states use, or attempt to use, confessional appeals to religious belief and conscience to advance political strategies and objectives. Through case studies of the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Russia, Peter S. Henne demonstrates that religion, although not as high profile or well-funded a tool as economic sanctions or threats of military force, remains a potent weapon in international relations. Public policy analysis often minimizes the role of religion, favoring military or economic matters as the "important" arenas of policy debate. As Henne shows, however, at transformative moments in political history, states turn to faith-based appeals to integrate or fragment international coalitions. Henne highlights Saudi Arabia's 1960s rivalry with Egypt, the United States's post-9/11 leadership in the global war on terrorism, and the Russian Federation's contemporary expansionism both to reveal the presence and power of calls for religious unity and to emphasize the uncertainty and anxiety such appeals can create. Religious Appeals in Power Politics offers a bold corrective to those who consider religion as tangential to military or economic might

Recensión de la obra: Iliana Olivié, Aitor Pérez (eds), 2020. 284 páginas. Reseña "Aid Power & Politics".

This paper discusses the relationships between entanglement􀁄􀁑􀁇􀀃 􀁓􀁒􀁚􀁈􀁕􀀑􀀃 􀀨􀁑􀁗􀁄􀁑􀁊􀁏􀁈􀁐􀁈􀁑􀁗􀀃 􀁌􀁖􀀃 􀁇􀁈􀂿􀁑􀁈􀁇􀀃 􀁌􀁑􀀃 􀁗􀁈􀁕􀁐􀁖􀀃 􀁒􀁉􀀃 􀁗􀁋􀁈􀀃dependencies between humans and things. Power is oftendiscussed in terms of power over others, that is in termsof human-human, rather than human-thing, relations. Thispaper argues that human-thing entrapment can be used andmanipulated by elites but that non-elites find themselvescaught in a double bind, both entrapped in human-humanpower relations, and entrapped in the daily practices ofhuman-thing relations.

Much as I admire E. H. Carr's work in the international field, I intend to question the main assumption upon which it is based: namely, that it is power which always has decided and always will decide major political issues. In this respect my argument points in the same direction as two earlier lectures in this series, although my method of approach is different from theirs. My aim is to show with some precision why power, as used in political theorizing, is not only an inadequate but a confusing and even a deceiving notion. And I will begin by indicating the three main areas in which the confusions and deceptions arise.