murithi mutiga?war that has been fought at a horrific price. you know, it is really, the scale of suffering, the scale of displacement, it's just extraordinary. again, i would agree with the panellist, this is a country that doesn't welcome a lot of external involvement. they have to really sit around the table, all of them, ultimately have hopefully realised that none can deal a death—blow to the other. ethiopia doesn't really have a history of accommodation, it's one of total domination, by one party or the other. but that is not sustainable, and so they ultimately need to sit around the table, try and negotiate a solution. there could be a role for external actors, in rebuilding a very important country, the second—most populous on the continent, the economy is really in dire straits, very high levels of inflation, so there could be a second order role for the international community, in trying to piece the country back together. but ultimately, it will have to be an ethiopian solution. thanks ver

murithi mutiga?r that has been fought at a horrific price. you know, it is really, the scale of suffering, the scale of displacement, it's just extraordinary. again, i would agree with the panellist, this is a country that doesn't welcome a lot of external involvement. they have to really sit around the table, all of them, ultimately have hopefully realised that none can deal a death—blow to the other. ethiopia doesn't really have a history of accommodation, it's one of total domination, by one party or the other. but that is not sustainable, and so they ultimately need to sit around the table, try and negotiate a solution. there could be a role for external actors, in rebuilding a very important country, the second—most populous on the continent, the economy is really in dire straits, very high levels of inflation, so there could be a second order role for the international community, in trying to piece the country back together. but ultimately, it will have to be an ethiopian solution. thanks very

murithi mutiga from icg, you start. are seeing in west africa, it is something more complex. it is basically a cry for help. coups borne out of desperation. you know, in many parts of the sahel, these are people that were never particularly wealthy, were not particularly engaged in the democratic process, but could at least live lives of relative normality. lives at peace, where they could attend weddings, they could use public transport, they could go to funerals, all that has been upended. we have seen at least a decade of banditry, jihady violence, and so the people have cried out to men in arms. so are you going on the record, then, murithi, and saying there is such a thing as a coup? there may not be a good... there certainly are bad coups, i would say coups are dangerous. so, gabriel, there is a kind of coup—ometer as it were, with varying degrees of how bad a coup is or how good it is. do you agree? no, i... i don't believe there is such a thing as a good coup. a coup d'etat is a manifestation of the lack of a co

and murithi mutiga is africa programme director at the conflict resolution, the icg, that's the international, you too can join the conversation. it's #bbcglobal0uestions. now, before we take our first question from our audience, i thought it would be a good idea to just give you a brief overview of the topic in hand, just to provide you with a bit of background about army coups and conflict in africa.