There have been 15 attempts to create a functioning government in Somalia since the overthrow of dictator Siad Barre in 1991. None of them have come close to working. Overrun by warlords and Islamist insurgents, the country is in the grips of another potential famine. More on Transcript of FT interview with Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, president of Somalia

Berhanu Nega’s story is a frightening testament that in some parts of the world, people are still enmeshed in life-and-death struggles for freedom.

The Ethiopian government recently announced that Berhanu and other opposition leaders had been plotting a coup. Thirty-five opposition party members were arrested in Ethiopia, and a government official said if Berhanu ever returns, he will be jailed, too. It is not the first time Berhanu, a Bucknell economics professor, has been targeted by the government in his native country. More on Struggling for democracy