The new director of Chatham House’s Africa Programme on the day a former Nigerian President ended up in a police van outside the institute, what the world can learn from African solidarity and the growing power of Afrobeats music.
The World Today
Published 15 December 2025 — 2 minute READ
Image — Muhammadu Buhari, former president of Nigeria, visiting 10 Downing Street in 2015. Tighisti Amare was in charge of looking after him when he spoke at Chatham House during the same visit. Photo: Leon Neal/ AFP via Getty Images.
When did your interest in international relations begin?
I was born in Ethiopia to Eritrean and Ethiopian parents, countries which have a long history of conflict. Growing up, I felt that there had to be a better way of solving such friction than fighting. I was very idealistic as a student, and while studying for my economics degree became interested in how diplomacy can support peaceful coexistence, so I did a master’s in international relations.
