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Religious violence has become increasingly relevant in political and academic discourses. Because of the revival of religions, the contemporary world cannot be understood without accounting for the role of religion and religious organizations in peace and conflict, including the case of Ethiopia. The purpose of this article is to examine the role of religion in peace and conflict in the post 1991 of Ethiopia. Methodologically, the paper employed qualitative research approach by relying on secondary sources of data. The findings of the research revealed that Ethiopia has many positive assets that have to be exploited fully and critically including the role of the Inter-Religious Council. The religious policies of the present Ethiopian government are remarkably different from any of the previous ones with regard to the measure of religious freedom they provide. Paradoxically, one may wonder why is it at this time, where religious freedom and equality of religion are guaranteed, we are witnessing increased tensions and violent religious conflicts in contemporary Ethiopia. Inter-religious relations in Ethiopia have been peaceful and tolerant for long period. However, the rise of inter-religious conflicts in recent decades is taking place. Generally, in contemporary Ethiopia religion is used both as an instrument for producing conflict in certain circumstances and as a powerful resource for peace and transformation of conflict in the society. On the whole, identifying the role of religion in conflict is a very complex task to accomplish, as there are multiple variables to be well-thought-out.

Since the independence of the continent, there have been failed attempts to industrialize it using import-substitution policy, which gave rise to the idea of regional integration as an instrument to facilitate structural transformation in Africa. Consequently, African countries have embraced regional integration as an essential element of their development strategies principally driven by the economic rational of overcoming the restraint of small and fractioned economies working in isolation. The establishment of the Organization for African Unity (OAU) in 1963 believed to contribute to many integration initiatives. Even after the transformation of OAU to AU, leaders of the continent once again emphasized their dedication to the idea of regional integration. Obviously, even in the future the issue will continue to be one of the main economic agendas of the continent as there is a widely shared belief that regional cooperation is crucial to tackle development challenges that cannot be addressed at a national level. The cardinal objective of this paper is to assess the obstacles of regional integration in the Horn of Africa. Hence, the findings show that political instability, conflicts, overlapping membership and weak infrastructure are the main challenges for regional integration in East Africa.