Yearly Archives: 2011
George Ayittey’s War on African Dictatorships

Alemayehu G. Mariam George Ayittey, the distinguished Ghanaian economist, and arguably one of the “Top 100 Public Intellectuals” (a person of ideas who stands for things far larger than one’s…

The SEEDs of Hope in the Ethiopian Diaspora

Alemayehu G. Mariam [This commentary is an expanded version of remarks I gave at the annual SEED Award Dinner (Society of Ethiopians Established in Diaspora)[1] held at the Georgetown University…

Hope Springs Eternal in Africa

Alemayehu G. Mariam Saving Africa From Thugtators Two historic events are unfolding before our eyes in Africa today. The new president of Cote d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, is asking the International…

Africa: Cause Looking for Rebels

[This commentary is based on talk I gave at the first annual University of California, Los Angeles Habesha Student Association[1] Networking Night event held at Ackerman Union on May 14,…

Africa: Is the World Growing Honest?

Alemayehu G. Mariam Is the World Growing Honest or Doomsday Near? I encountered the tantalizing headline unexpectedly: “Bold Words From British Government Representative”. Britain’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, Norman Ling, said:…

Ethiopia: An Imaginary Conversation with Nelson Mandela

Alemayehu G. Mariam The Triumphalism of African Dictators There is nothing that is both amusing and annoying than the chest-beating triumphalism of Africa’s tin pot dictators. This past February, Yoweri…

Ethiopia: The Silence of Lying Lips

Alemayehu G. Mariam Lies, Junk and Cut-and-Paste Meles Zenawi, the dictator-in-chief in Ethiopia, says he does not want to talk about the 2010 U.S. State Department Country Reports on Human…

We Went, We Saw, We Got Chased Out…

Alemayehu G. Mariam Following the Battle of Zela in 47 B.C. (present day Zile, Turkey), Julius Caesar claimed victory by declaring: “I came; I saw; I conquered.” In 2011, Caesar…

The End Game of African Dictators

Alemayehu G. Mariam End Game Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d’Ivoire arrested! Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in intensive care! Moamar Gadhafi of Libya under siege! Omar al-Bashir of the Sudan, a…

Ethiopia: The Art of War by Mass Distraction

Alemayehu G. Mariam The Common People Don’t Want War At the Nuremberg Trials in 1945, Hermann Goering, Hitler’s right-hand man, told his interrogator: Naturally the common people don’t want war….

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