Ethiopia is currently undergoing a significant political transition, a transition that began with the ascendency of Abiy Ahmed as a new chairman of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and Prime Minister of the country. In a span of a little over a year, bold political reforms have been introduced. At the same time, these reforms have exacerbated ethnic tensions in the country. In a country that has experimented with ethnic federalism and where ethnicity is the main political organizing principle, the pressure towards ethno-national political movements is quite strong. This pressure has transformed the political identity of many groups, including the Amhara. Despite its longtime role as a major constituency for pan-Ethiopianist movements, many Ethiopians claim that the Amhara, the second largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, has recently exhibited a trend towards ethnonationalism. In this paper we explore two questions. First, is there evidence that an Amhara nationalism is emerging? And if so, what may be causing this? Using recent data from both the Afrobarometer and World Values Survey, we find a growing sense of defensive Amhara nationalism among Amhara respondents, although there is no indication of a general abandonment of the “Ethiopianist (Ethiopiawinet)” ideal. We argue that this defensive nationalism is a product of a “security dilemma” dynamic facing the Amhara as the result of the continuation of the “Oppressor/Oppressed” narrative that has been adopted by the EPRDF regime. This ethnonational appeal resonates with young Amhara males, and those who believe that their group has been unfairly treated by the current regime.

埃塞俄比亚目前正在经历重大的政治过渡，这一过渡始于阿比·艾哈迈德（Abiy Ahmed）担任埃塞俄比亚人民革命民主阵线（EPRDF）新主席和该国总理。在一年多一点的时间里，大胆的政治改革已经出台。与此同时，这些改革加剧了该国的种族紧张局势。在一个试验过民族联邦制并且民族是主要政治组织原则的国家，对民族-民族政治运动的压力是相当大的。这种压力改变了许多团体的政治身份，包括阿姆哈拉人。尽管长期以来一直是泛埃塞俄比亚主义运动的主要支持者，但许多埃塞俄比亚人声称，埃塞俄比亚第二大族群阿姆哈拉人，最近表现出民族主义倾向。在本文中，我们探讨了两个问题。首先，是否有证据表明阿姆哈拉民族主义正在兴起？如果是这样，可能是什么原因造成的？使用来自非洲晴雨表和世界价值观调查的最新数据，我们发现阿姆哈拉受访者中的防御性阿姆哈拉民族主义意识日益增强，尽管没有迹象表明普遍放弃“埃塞俄比亚主义者”埃塞俄比亚葡萄酒网）”理想。我们认为，这种防御性民族主义是阿姆哈拉人面临的“安全困境”动态的产物，这是 EPRDF 政权采用的“压迫者/被压迫者”叙事的延续。这种民族吸引力引起了年轻的阿姆哈拉男性的共鸣，以及那些认为他们的群体受到现政权不公平对待的人的共鸣。