Dr. Chanie is a scholar of political science and international relations. Until July 2023, he had served as an Assistant Professor and Ph.D. Program Coordinator in the Department of Political Science and International Studies (DPSIS) at Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia. Prior to joining Bahir Dar University in September 2016, he was Lecturer of Political Science and International Relations at Adama Science and Technology University. Throughout a decade-long career as an academic, Dr. Chanie taught several courses to undergraduate and master’s students, including Politics in the Horn of Africa, International Relations, Peace and Conflict, Survey of Human Rights, Introduction to Politics and Government, and Politics and Government in Africa. He also advised and supervised several students’ undergraduate senior essays and master’s theses.
In his position as a Ph.D. Program Coordinator, and previously External Relations Coordinator, at DPSIS, Dr. Chanie worked on partnership and collaboration between the department and leading political science scholars in the US and Europe, and his home country, Ethiopia. He facilitated and coordinated bringing these scholars to the department as visiting professors, teaching and supervising Ph.D. students thereby strengthening the political science Ph.D. program.
Dr. Chanie was the winner of the prestigious and highly competitive University of Michigan African Presidential Scholars Program (UMAPS) 2021/2022 award. He joined the University of Michigan African Studies Center from September 2021 to February 2022 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA as an African Presidential Scholar working on his research on war and state formation in South Sudan.
Dr. Chanie received his Ph.D. in Political Science and International Studies from Bahir Dar University in December 2021. His PhD dissertation – War and State Formation in South Sudan: An Anomaly in the Horn of Africa? – explored the interplay of war and state making, post-independence challenges of building the machinery of government, social forces, inter-state border conflict and internal violence in South Sudan and the greater Horn of Africa region. Dr. Chanie also holds a BA and MA in Political Science and International Relations from Addis Ababa University in 2010 and 2013, respectively.
His current research interests include state building, ethnicity and conflict, political transition, forced displacement, and international relations with a focus on the Horn of Africa region. His latest co-authored publication with the distinguished political scientist, John Ishiyama probed the causes of ethnic nationalism and how ethnic nationalism may affect political transition with a particular reference to Ethiopia. Dr. Chanie’s article that also came out in 2021 – “Sudan and South Sudan: An unamicable political divorce” – examined the key post-separation issues that have remained sources of contention and conflict between Sudan and the world’s newest state of South Sudan thereby exacerbating state building challenges in the latter. He was also among the four young scholars in Africa and beyond who were invited to participate in the 2022 American Political Science Association (APSA) annual conference held in Montreal. For this conference, his article manuscript titled “Post-conflict state building in South Sudan: Beyond institutions” was selected to be discussed at the APSA Democracy & Autocracy Emerging Scholars Workshop. Dr. Chanie has presented papers in several national and international research conferences, workshops, and panel discussions.