The Abiy Project - God, Power and War in the New Ethiopia

In 2018, Ethiopia and the world were in the throes of ''Abiymania'', a fervour of popular support for the divided country''s young, charismatic new prime minister. Arriving as if from nowhere, Abiy Ahmed, a Pentecostal Christian, promised democratic salvation and national unity. For his role brokering a historic peace with neighbouring Eritrea, he received the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. Hailed at home as a prophet and abroad as a liberal reformer, Abiy was all things to all men.

But his democratic revolution wasn''t quite what it seemed. Within two years, Ethiopia had lurched into a devastating civil war, threatening state collapse. By 2023, fighting on an apocalyptic scale had killed hundreds of thousands in the northern Tigray region; famine stalked the land; and Ethiopia''s once-promising economy lay in tatters. But Abiy had never looked stronger.

Based on hundreds of interviews with Ethiopians of all persuasions, and extensive reporting across the country, this book tra