Globalization and State Autonomy: The Case of Ethiopia 1991–2018

Solomon Ashagrie and Dena Freeman

Global Policy, 2025, vol. 16, issue 5, 955-964

Abstract: Critical scholars argue that African states ceded policy autonomy to global neoliberal forces through aid conditionality. This study investigates the Ethiopian state's relative autonomy amid globalization. Based on an analysis of archival materials, policy documents, and other sources, we argue that despite growing neoliberal influence since the 1990s, Ethiopia has managed to maintain a high degree of relative autonomy, overtly and covertly resisting neoliberal economic reforms in the 1990s and then openly choosing the ‘developmental state’ approach after 2005. We show that Ethiopia was able to do this due to its strategic significance to the West and because of China's emergence as an alternative financial source. We thus argue that the debate regarding globalization and state autonomy should take into account a wider range of factors than IFI conditionality.

Date: 2025
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