Last week, 20 participants from the Ethiopian Ministry of Peace, the police, the intelligence community and the House of Federation joined a three-day Clingendael Academy workshop on Scenario Building in Addis Ababa.

A practical approach to strategic thinking

Clingendael trainers presented tools and models to reflect on both current and future foreign policies of Ethiopia, such as scenario building, SWOT-analysis and action planning.

Scenario building is a tool that strengthens future thinking in order to anticipate potential future developments.

During the workshop, the participants methodologically identified trends and factors that have an impact on a policy issue. After a thorough analysis and a vigorous debate, participants contemplated four possible future scenarios. By analysing several possible futures, as well as by reflecting on Ethiopia’s current policy, the participants formulated and prioritised strategic policy options for Ethiopia in the five years to come.

Capcity-building project

The training in strategic thinking and scenario-building is part of a three year capacity-building project between Clingendael Academy and the Ethiopian Foreign Relations Strategic Studies Institute (EFRSSI). The project is financed by the Netherlands Embassy in Addis Ababa.