Gheralta mountains, near Hawzen, Eastern Tigray, Ethiopia, 2017. Sergi Reboredo/ Press Association. All rights reserved.
This October, French researcher René Lefort published his latest in-depth analysis of Ethiopian affairs on openDemocracy and Ethiopia Insight, focusing on the perils facing the reform process. The article elicited a critique from Messay Kebede ‘Separating the wheat from the chaff on Ethiopia’. This is the author’s response.
I have carefully followed Messay Kebede‘s work for decades, and I am also a long-time acquaintance. I was therefore surprised by the form and the substance of his critique of my most recent analysis. As a researcher, I welcome criticism, with one important caveat: it must be based on a reasonable interpretation of what I have actually written, and certainly not on a distortion of my views. Let me give a few examples of where in this instance I believe Messay has failed this test.
