If Ethiopia descends into chaos, it could take the Horn of Africa with it

The Ethiopian army’s assault on Tigray province marks a serious backwards step by the country’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, who has been feted internationally as a moderniser and Nobel peace prize winner. Abiy calls it a “law enforcement operation” – but he risks being blamed for an expanding refugee emergency and a burgeoning region-wide crisis. An even bigger fear is the break-up of Ethiopia itself in a Libyan or Yugoslav-type implosion. The…