Author Archive
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
15 Apr 2015
ለፕሮፌሰር ዶናልድ ሌቪን እልፈት ማስታወሻ (ፕሮፌሰር አለማየሁ ገብረማርያም)
ፕሮፌሰር ዶናልድ ሌቪን በዚህ ባሳለፍው ጥር ወር ኢትዮጵያን ለመጎብኘት የነበራቸው የረዥም ጊዜ ዕቅድ በህመማቸው ምክንያት የተጨናገፈ መሆኑን በኢሜይል መልዕክት ልከውልኝ ነበር፡፡ በዚያ አስበውት በነበረው ጉብኝት የሚከተሉትን ሶስት ዓላማዎች የማሳካት ዕቅድ ነበራቸው፡፡
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
31 Mar 2015
ኢትዮጵያ፡ በገንዘብ ዕጦት ምክንያት የተገደበ ግደብ? (ፕሮፌሰር አለማየሁ ገብረማርያም)
ባለፈው ሳምንት እራሱን ህዝባዊ ወያኔ ሀርነት ትግራይ (ህወሀት) እያለ የሚጠራው ወሮበላ የዘራፊ ቡድን ስብስብ በህዝብ ግንኙነት ታዛዥ ሎሌው አማካይነት በዓለም አቀፉ ብዙሀን መገናኛ ዘዴዎች በመጠቀም አሁንም ደግሞ ወጭው እጅግ በጣም ከፍተኛ የሆነ “የኢትዮጵያ የነዳጅ ዘይት ማጣሪያ ኩባንያ በ10 ዓመታት ጊዜ ውስጥ በ5 ቢሊዮን ዶላር እንገነባለን“ የሚል ትረካ አሰራጭቷል፡፡
25 Mar 2015
በደቡብ አፍሪካ የተፈጸመውን የሻርፕቪሌን ዕልቂት ማስታወሻ (ፕሮፌሰር አለማየሁ ገብረማርያም)
የአጣሪ ኮሚሽኑ የምርመራ ውጤቶች አስደንጋጭ እና ዘግናኝ ነበሩ፡፡ አጣሪ ኮሚሽኑ ባደረገው የማጣራት ስራ የሚከተሉት ተጨባጭ እውነታዎች መገኘታቸውን ይፋ አድርጓል፡