Recent reports by an RVI Fellow and a member of the teaching staff of the RVI Great Lakes Course cover current political and economic issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Horn of Africa. Sally Healy's Hostage…
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Ken Menkhaus, RVI Fellow and Director of Studies on the Horn of Africa Course 2012 (more on RVI Courses below), has analysed the future of ‘governance without government’ in Somalia in an article for the al-Shahid Network. Describing the…
The RVI anniversary event at SOAS was introduced by the Director, John Ryle, in these words: "The RVI is a transnational network distributed across Eastern and Central Africa. Our goal is to bring local realities and local knowledge to…
In December 2011 the RVI marked its tenth anniversary year. On December 13 half-a-dozen Sudan Handbook contributors were present at the School of Oriental and African Studies for a panel discussion under the title "Next Year in Sudan and…
The latest rebel movement in North Kivu, known as M23, has set back hopes of peace in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. ‘The Congolese state, weak and disorganized, seems condemned to perpetual negotiations with rebels in its…
Tobias Hagmann and Kjetil Tronvoll’s Contested Power in Ethiopia: Traditional Authorities and Multi-Party Elections (2011) focuses on Ethiopia’s 2005 elections. The authors examine the significance of non-state actors, documenting the political strength and limitations of traditional leadership. In Getting…
The election of a new president in Somalia and the expected inauguration of a new prime minister in Ethiopia have prompted RVI Fellow Sally Healy to reflect on the challenges facing Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Mogadishu and Haile Mariam…
Sudan Looks East, co-edited by Dan Large and Luke A. Patey analyses the 'look east' policy adopted by Khartoum from the mid-1990s onwards. The book examines the rise of China, Malaysia and India and their significance in Sudan and…
South Sudan's second bookshop is now open at the Roots Project, Nimra Talata, in Juba town. Leaves bookshop is the brainchild of Awak Bior, an official at the Juba office of the European Union. The RVI, along with other…
In a blog for the London Review of Books, RVI Fellow Jérôme Tubiana describes a year of research in Sudan and South Sudan on arms flows in Sudan. ‘Tracing their origin,’ he writes, ‘might make it easier to put…
Recent Publications
Aid and Conflict Sensitivity in Contemporary Ethiopia
November 17, 2025
This study assesses conflict sensitivity practices among humanitarian, development and peacebuilding (HDP) actors in Ethiopia. It seeks to raise awareness and foster a deeper understanding of the evolving aid landscape in the country while analysing the challenges that affect conflict-sensitive
Enhancing the Role of Borderland Communities in Ethiopia’s Foreign Policy
October 15, 2025
Ethiopia’s borderland communities (BLCs) have historically influenced the country’s relations with its neighbours. These peripheral regions often serve as hubs for cross-border trade, repositories of natural resources and, at times, flashpoints of conflict. Surrounded by six neighbouring countries – Djibouti,
Women in the Social Sciences and Humanities in Ethiopia: The case of Addis Ababa University
October 10, 2025
This preliminary assessment is part of the launch exercise of the Ethiopian Women Researchers’ Network (EWNET). Focusing on Addis Ababa University as a pioneering higher institution in the country, the study looks into the status of women within these disciplines