13 May 2015
The U.S. Senate Should Not Confirm Gayle Smith
[This commentary first appeared on The Hill.] President Obama visited Ghana in 2009 and told Parliament, “History is on the side of brave Africans.” He warned Africa’s strongmen, “History is not with those who use coups or change Constitutions to stay in power.” He declared to the world, “Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.”
12 May 2015
Senate should not confirm Gayle Smith
Originally appeared in The Hill (o5/05/17.) [Posted on almariam.com on 5/24/17.] http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/241633-senate-should-not-confirm-gayle-smith ================ President Obama visited Ghana in 2009 and told Parliament, “History is on the side of brave Africans.” He warned Africa’s strongmen, “History is not with those who use coups or change Constitutions to stay in power.” He declared to the world, “Africa
10 May 2015
El-Sisi: Ethiopia’s Friend in Need, Indeed!
A friend in need is a friend in deed, indeed! Last week, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi stunned the world by rescuing more than two dozen abducted Ethiopians marked for beheadings in Libya by the ruthless self-styled terrorist group known as “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (ISIL) (also known as “Islamic State of
08 May 2015
The Tangled Web Wendy Sherman Weaves
In her Letter to the Washington Post, U.S. Undersecretary Wendy R. Sherman chastised the editorial board for “mischaracterizing her remarks” in its May 1 editorial. At issue is what Ms. Sherman said and meant by her words during her press conference in Ethiopia on April 16. I addressed that issue at length in my commentary
03 May 2015
Wendy Sherman and the Ethiopian “Election” That Isn’t
The folly of willful ignorance I did not vote for Ronald Reagan to become U.S. president. But I appreciated some of his witticisms before he became president. In 1964, two years after he dumped the Democrats and joined the Republicans, Reagan astutely noted, “The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s
26 Apr 2015
Ethiopia: Cry Once Again, Our Beloved Country!
Ethiopian lives matter! Exactly ten years ago in 2005, almost to the month, the late supreme leader of the Thugtatorship of the Tigrean Peoples Liberation Front (T-TPLF), Meles Zenawi, personally directed a campaign of brutal suppression of unarmed protesters following the general election that year. On May 16, 2005, Meles Zenawi declared a state of
19 Apr 2015
Remembering the Armenian Genocide
Author’s Note: The Armenian Genocide which began one hundred years ago this week inside present-day Turkey will be remembered worldwide on April 24. That Genocide began with a roundup of Armenian intellectuals, clergy, educators, writers, community leaders and other notable members of the Armenian community in Constantinople, (renamed Istanbul in 1923), the capital of the
12 Apr 2015
A Special Tribute to Prof. Donald Levine
Donald Levine: The scholars’ scholar This past January, Prof. Levine emailed to tell me about his long-planned visit to Ethiopia that had been thwarted by his illness. He had set three objectives for that trip. He wanted to be present for the launching of his book Interpreting Ethiopia in Addis Ababa. He wanted to witness the opening
06 Apr 2015
Ethiopia: The Meles Jinx, the GERD Nixed?
To “build the dam” or to “abandon” it: That was Meles’ question! Exactly four years ago, almost to the day, on April 2, 2011, the late Meles Zenawi gave a speech in Guba, Benishangul Gumuz in Western Ethiopia, setting out his dream and vision for what he called the “Millennium Dam” (later called “Grand Ethiopian
01 Apr 2015
Ethiopia: The Dam Dammed by Cash Flow?
In my March 2013 commentary, “Rumors of Water War on the Nile?”, I argued: … Whether there will be an actual “Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam” [GERD] is the $5bn dollar question of the century. Because Egypt has been successful in pressuring multilateral development and investment banks not to fund the project, the regime in Ethiopia