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 fugitive from justice. Ben Ali of Tunisia out of Africa! Meles Zenawi, sleepless in Ethiopia. These are heady days on the African continent. These are…
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. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to…
Alemayehu G. Mariam The Shell Game of African Democracy If the Ivory Coast, one of the most prosperous African countries, can be considered a template for political change on the continent, democracy can replace dictatorship only by means of a civil war. For the past 5 months, Laurent Gbagbo, the loser of the November 2010…
The Deal of the Century Supposing someone offered you the following land deal, would you take it or walk away believing it is too good to be true? For £150 a week (USD$245), you can lease more than 2,500 sq km (1,000 sq miles) of virgin, fertile land – an area the size of Dorset,…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 10/25/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ethiopia-feed-them-and-bl_b_773201.html Western Donors as Accessories to “Democricide” in Ethiopia The helping hand that feeds Ethiopians is the same hand that helps bleed Ethiopia. Every year, the U.S., U.K, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Japan and other Western countries hand out billions of dollars in “humanitarian” and “economic” aid…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 10/18/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/let-ethiopians-hear-ameri_b_765947.html Ethiopian Citizens Have the Absolute Constitutional Right to Listen to the VOA So many lessons to learn from Columbia University! When dictator-in-chief Meles Zenawi spoke unceremoniously at Columbia on September 22, he was talking trash about the Voice of America (VOA). He said he decided to…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 10/10/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ethiopia-birtukan-unbound_b_757501.html An October to Remember The great American novelist Thomas Wolfe wrote: “All things on earth point home in old October; sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds, the lover to the love he…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 10/03/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/lessons-from-columbia-u_b_748623.html “Let Ethiopians Debate Ethiopia” Following Meles Zenawi’s speech at Columbia University on September 22, Prof. William Easterly of New York University expressed his delight in seeing Ethiopians “participating in a debate about Ethiopia.” In his AID WATCH blog under the title “Lessons after the Meles Speech…
Alemayehu G. Mariam After the Dust Settled After the dust settled following Meles Zenawi’s speech at Columbia’s World Leaders Forum, a dark shadow and glowing light were visible on stage to behold. The dark shadow was cast by the ghost of the erstwhile Ethiopian junta dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. The glow of light was radiated…
By Alemayehu G. Mariam Reinventing Zenawi In 47 B.C., the Roman Emperor Julius Ceasar sent his senators news of his military victory in a simple declaration: “Veni, Vidi, Vici.” (I came, I saw, I conquered.) “Emperor” Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s dictator-in-chief, would have loved to send the same message to his “senators” in Addis Ababa following…
