Looking ahead to the upcoming 2015 elections and the country’s longer-term stability and development, Dr. Negaso Solan focused on the need for a constitution that mirrors Ethiopia’s ethnic diversity and that lends itself to developing a truly democratic multinational state. As former president of Ethiopia, he reflected on his experiences drafting the country’s 1995 constitution and offer recommendations for public confidence-building around future amendments.

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Patrick Merloe, Thomas O. Melia, and Jan Surotchak discussed how authoritarian regimes are devising new ways to impede authentic election observation as part of a wider authoritarian effort to create anti-democratic counternorms around the world.

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During his presentation, Umed Babakhanov discussed the history of political Islam in Tajikistan and the impact of Western sanctions on Russia on stability in Tajikistan, including the implications of these trends for the 2015 elections.

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