Alemayehu G. Mariam Nearly a quarter of a century ago, Time Magazine on its cover page asked two weighty questions about recurrent famines in Ethiopia: “Why are Ethiopians starving again?…
Alemayehu G. Mariam On December 21, 1987, Time Magazine on its cover page featured a downcast and crestfallen young Ethiopian mother as a…
By Alemayehu G. Mariam Americans fed up with uncontrolled deficit government spending are often heard invoking a familiar battle cry: “Starve the Beast!” In other words, no more taxpayer dollars…
By Alemayehu G. Mariam Author’s Note: On June 16, 2008, I published a special commentary (reproduced below in its original form) explaining the sysetmatic use of disinformation by Meles Zenawi, the dictator in…
Alemayehu G. Mariam Ethiopia, Famine and the Oxford Dictionary Oxymorons (figures of speech that combine contradictory terms) can sometimes provide unique insights into the cognitive process. Consider, for instance, the phrase…
Alemayehu G. Mariam The record will show that I have been an unapologetic defender of the Voice of America. A couple of weeks ago, I defended the VOA as the…
By Alemayehu G. Mariam Life and Times of Democracy in Africa The long march of democracy in West Africa seems to be well underway. In July 2009, I wrote a weekly…
By Alemayehu G. Mariam In October, 2009, I wrote a weekly commentary titled, “Famine and the Noisome Beast in Ethiopia”: It is hard to talk about Ethiopia these days in…