Suchergebnisse

Founded and led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) came to power in 1991, after a sixteen-year armed struggle against the military regime that had ruled Ethiopia since 1974. While not formally a marxist-leninist party, the TPLF nonetheless was devoted to these ideals and they figured prominently in the structure and functioning of the organisation. While the TPLF's base represented the peasantry of Tigray, its leadership was dominated by young, radical intellectuals. Itself representing an ethnic group of relatively modest size, the TPLF formed a coalition of ethnically based organisations, the EPRDF, in 1989, to give itself Ethiopia-wide political scope and legitimacy. Once it came to power, the Front faced serious problems of adjustment, but managed to overcome them thanks to the coherence of its programme, the commitment of its cadres, and the cohesiveness of its leadership. In the face of dramatically changed international circumstances, the EPRDF moderated its policies, abandoning marxism and embracing the free market. It weathered an insurrection by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) in 1992-93, contained Islamist incursions from Sudan and Somalia, won the war against Eritrea (1998-2000), achieved a measure of economic progress, and took large steps towards state decentralisation and smaller ones towards democratisation.

Discusses the crisis within the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) of Ethiopia. The crisis was rooted in the war with Eritrea, when leadership divisions within the TPLF regarding the conduct of war resulted in factionalism. When the TPLF Central Committee split in 2001, a leadership purge -- called a "renewal" -- occurred in the TPLF & its Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), leading to Meles Zenawi's rise to dominance in both entities as dissidents were removed. He initiated reforms cited as a shift away from the EPRDF's Marxist-Leninist origins; however, the highly publicized decentralization program was not a major point of contention in the TPLF, thus, in terms of policies & programs, change has been marginal. In this light, it is contended that political & ideological differences cannot account entirely for the TPLF crisis. The TPLF is then considered in terms of successful peasant-based revolutions to glean points of similarity & difference. It is concluded that the TPLF suffered under the burden of a power struggle between Meles & a dozen of his colleagues, between state elements & the party apparatus, & between Tigray-based TPLF officials & those close to Meles. Evident is a power shift from Tigray to the Addis Ababa central government & from elements of the TPLF Central Committee to the prime minister. Issues of legitimacy & the role of culture in the crisis are touched on. It is concluded that unless Meles can create a broader, pan-Ethiopian power base, his position will remain insecure. This means that as first the TPLF & then the Meles core have effectively merged with the state, the TPLF & state face a crisis of legitimacy. 10 References. J. Zendejas

Das Buch untersucht die Entstehung, Rolle und Einfluss des politischen Islam, namentlich der fundamentalistischen Organisation Al-Ittihad in Somalia (einschließlich Somaliland und Puntland). Die (neben Al-Islamiyya) nach dem 11. September 2001 ins internationale Blickfeld geratene Gruppe wird in ihre Anfänge in den späten 80er Jahren zurückverfolgt, ihre Rolle beim Zusammenbruch des somalischen Staates und im Bürgerkrieg wird beschrieben, ihre Fraktionen, politischen Positionen und die Verankerung in den politischen Strömungen werden analysiert. Der Autor versucht abzuschätzen, wie stark die Beziehungen zu Al-Quaida sind. Schließlich werden die Beziehungen zu den Nachbarstaaten und zu Italien untersucht. (DÜI-Sbd)