Bantayehu Shiferaw Chanie (BA and MA Addis Ababa University, PhD in Political Science and International Studies, BDU, Ethiopia) is a Visiting Researcher and IIE-SRF Fellow at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa. Bantayehu’s current research interest and publications focus on state-building, ethnic politics and conflict, political transitions, forced displacement, and international relations, with a focus on the Horn of Africa region, primarily Ethiopia and South Sudan. Until July 2023, he served as an Assistant Professor and PhD Program Coordinator in the Department of Political Science and International Studies (DPSIS) at Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia. Bantayehu was the 2021/2022 African Presidential Scholar at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, USA.  Prior to joining Bahir Dar University in September 2016, he was a Lecturer of Political Science and International Relations at Adama Science and Technology University.