International re-engagement and new peace talks point in a positive direction, but multiple indicators point to fragility and risk.

In a cabinet reshuffle last week, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appointed ten female ministers, comprising half of the all cabinet posts. Days later, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame announced that Rwanda’s new cabinet would also be gender-balanced. The Ethiopian parliament elected its first female president, Sahle-Work Zewde.

Developments in conflicts across the world that you might have missed this week.

Abiy Ahmed's ascension to office in Ethiopia is only the latest development in an attenuated transition process that began with the death of Meles Zenawi in 2012.

Since assuming office in 2018, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has consistently disappointed those who hoped that he would usher in a new era of South African leadership in foreign policy.

When Ethiopian federal forces declared a unilateral ceasefire at the end of June and Tigrayan fighters retook control of the regional capital, Mekelle, it did not signal the end of the crisis, but rather a pivot to a new phase.