Ethiopia: Motivations, Strategies and Interests of the Fanno in the Conflict in Wolkait.

The political landscape of Ethiopia has been replete with recurring incidents of intra-state conflicts along class, ethnic, religious, or regional lines. To stem the recurrence of such conflicts, 'ethnic federalism' was adopted as a conflict management strategy in 1991. Yet, rather than preventing conflicts, it has changed the arena in which conflicts take place. Various forms of conflicts proliferated in many parts of the country, putting ethnic federalism at the center of debates on the persistence of conflicts. Hence, the role of local non-state actors responsible for the emergence, escalation, or termination of conflicts has been glossed over. One of the determining factors for whether conflict erupts or lingers pertains to actors' motivations and strategies. Against the backdrop of this, the conflict in Wolkait, Ethiopia will be investigated by shedding light on the motivations and strategies of Fanno, one of the local non-state actors involved in the conflict under study. To this end, a critical research approach is employed within a qualitative case study design in the course of data collection and analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]