The government of #Ethiopia has a lot to be grateful for. They rule one of the brightest and most diverse populations in Africa. Thanks to Ethiopias long history of strong and sophisticated politics they are seen as leaders on the Horn of Africa. The government of Ethiopia is the recipient of so much foreign aid it hardly has to pay attention to the art and science of self sufficiency. It is seen as a loyal and effective tool by the United States in the global war on terrorism. Ethiopia has allowed the USA to torture suspected terrorists, and allowed the U.S. to launch drone attacks from Ethiopia. In return, the Ethiopian government and its people receive services and aid that could otherwise be delivered by its own people (that is, if the government were actually interested in serving its people rather than the power and economic interests of its own elite). The government of Ethiopia has the non-democratic institutions of the United States government on its side. The Presidents National Security Advisor, the CIA, a lobbying firm run by a powerful former Republican staffer, the Department of Defense, hawkish think tankers, et. al, conspiring to allow the government of Ethiopia to regress into autocracy. Why? Because it is in the United States short term national security Interest to keep the current regime in power. Bravo for the United States government, it is effective in keeping a foreign government on its side as a loyal Lieutenant. As for the people of #Ethiopia, this has not been good news. Even as Meles Zenawi was nearing his death, he made cryptic complaints when answering a question at the last economic forum he attended, about his governments addiction to foreign aid and capital at the expense of sovereignty. The problem with so much un earned aid in the hands of a government is that the people and institutions who benefit from all this aid no longer focus on good governance which serves the interests of its own citizens. Ethiopia has so much untapped talent, diversity, mineral wealth, and rich agricultural land that it should beacon in all of Africa for transparent democracy and a self-sustained commonwealth. Instead we have a government propped up by; hybrid western ideologies from the left and right, a lot of money and power from international interests, and an ancient history of elites more interested in retaining power than evolving to the rule of law. All of this and an upcoming election to make the ruling elite feel good about the power they to keep dissent and transparency out of politics in Ethiopia. The illusion of sustainable economic growth without civic accountability is going to last a little bit longer, and they have that to be grateful for too.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 06:33:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015