Eskinder Nega Appeals to American Exceptionalism In a letter published by the New York Times, Ethiopian prisoner Eskinder Nega calls upon the U.S. to “do the right thing” and hold the Ethiopian government accountable for its human rights violations. Nega writes “the new century is the age of democracy primarily because of the United States” As the keeper of democracy, Nega hopes the U.S. will fix Ethiopia and save it from itself. He writes “Tyranny is increasingly unsustainable in this post-cold-war era. It is doomed to failure. But it must be prodded to exit the stage with a whimper — not the bang that extremists long for” I appreciate Nega’s call to action against such severe human rights violations. He captures well not only the need for action, but also that the status quo is failing in a major way, and that the end could be dangerous for everyone. In his own words “As Ethiopia goes, so goes the whole Horn of Africa” However, it is not clear to me what he means by “Extremists” Given that he does not go into details readers are left with a gaping question, who are these extremists to whom Nega refers? A major part of Nega’s letter is devoted to appealing to American exceptionalism. He appeals to the usual tropes of the U.S. as “Defender of democracy” “superpower” Ironically, it is the U.S. that has supported and institutionalized a minority regime in Ethiopia. It is also from the U.S. itself that EPRDF inherited the legacy of breaking all the rules, including imprisoning its citizens under the guise of “terrorism” Nega is absolutely right about the need for change. The question is, will it be the U.S. who will bring change to Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa? #Ethiopia
Posted on: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 03:57:30 +0000
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