Hello, dear listeners. Today we're unlocking another episode we first released back in January for members of the conflicted community,

my conversation with the distinguished journalist Martin Plout, a man who has reported on conflicts across Africa for decades and whose book, Understanding Ethiopia's Tigray War,

was an essential resource for us in preparing our series on Ethiopia.

When Martin and I spoke, the guns in northern Ethiopia had largely fallen silent.

The sense then, or the hope at least, was that the Pretoria agreement

of late 2022 had ushered in a fragile but real pause after two years of horrific war in Tigray.

But in recent weeks, the situation has taken a darker turn. Reports from the ground indicate that Tigrayan forces

have pushed into parts of the neighboring afar region, seizing several villages and clashing

with local authorities. There are also renewed accusations that the Ethiopian federal

government has carried out drone strikes in Tigray, prompting fresh fears

that the conflict may be sliding back into open hostilities.

The humanitarian situation already dire is once again deteriorating.

In short, Ethiopia is not at peace.

It is in a holding pattern, one increasingly strained by events on the ground.

Listening now, Martin's analysis feels even more essential. He helps us understand the roots of the T-Gray War.

He also takes us through the regional dynamics that remain so crucial, the fraught relationship

with Eritrea, the shifting alliances in the Horn of Africa, and Ethiopia's deep internal

fractures, which today still threaten to pull the country apart. So as you listen, keep in mind

that this episode was recorded before the most recent flare-ups,

but it will still give you the historical and political foundations you need to understand

why Ethiopia remains so fragile and why the Tigray War continues to cast a long,

uneasy shadow over the region. Before we begin, a brief note, Martin's newest book, Unbroken Chains,

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