By Prof. Al Mariam

The Good Book says, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” It is a maxim that aims to guide those who seek to deliver the message of peace and reconciliation to humanity. It is a message that teaches true peace is found between individuals or nations by restoring broken relationships in a reconciliation process.

Today, PM Abiy told the people of Egypt, “What I want to tell the people of Egypt is that we Ethiopians know the value of spirit of brotherhood and neighborhood and we are God-fearing people, and we will never harm the people of Egypt.”

By Prof. Al Mariam

Author’s Note: In this commentary, I offer a personal review of the Trump administration’s human rights record in Africa in 2017.

On December 21, 2017, with little fanfare, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13818 of December 20, 2017 for targeted sanctions “declaring a national emergency with respect to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States posed by serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world.”

By Prof. Al Mariam

As long as people believed in ‘a bright future,’ they fought side by side irrespective of nationality – common questions first and foremost! But when doubt crept into people’s hearts, they began to depart, each to his own national tent – let every man count only upon himself! The ‘national question’ first and foremost! Marxism and the National Question J. V. Stalin

By Prof. Al Mariam

Vindication of the rule of law

In his closing argument defending a cabinet minister of a fictional African country called “Naranga”, John Mortimer’s equally fictional character Rumpole of the Bailey argued to the learned African judge:

By Prof. Al Mariam

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable…In the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.” John F. Kennedy

The quiet riot of civil disobedience in Ethiopia over the past two years is slowly morphing into a creeping and enveloping civil war. Alemayehu G. Mariam

Author’s Note: I have postponed the second installment of my “Deconstructing T-TPLF’s Ethnic Federalism” series in light of the deteriorating situation in Ethiopia today.

By Prof. Al Mariam

Introduction to the series

I am developing this multipart series of what I call “Deconstructing Ethnic Federalism in Ethiopia” (along with many other topical series to come) for several reasons. The Thugtatorship of Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (T-TPLF) has used its phony ideology of “ethnic federalism” to hoodwink and bamboozle Ethiopians into believing its system of ethnic apartheid supremacy is actually federalism. It is stunning how a group of high school and grammar school dropouts have been able to con a population of 100 million people into accepting their ethnic apartheid masters are actually their liberators.

By Prof. Al Mariam

Today, Africa is a Continent of COMPETING BEGGAR NATIONS. We vie with one another for favours from our former colonial masters; and we deliberately fall over one another to invite neocolonialists to come to our different territories to preside over our economic fortunes…

By Prof. Al Mariam

Author’s Note: In the past few days, it has been widely reported that the fix is in to axe Rex Tillerson from the State Department and replace him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo by January 2018. There has been much talk about a “Rexit” since the summer when it was disclosed that Tillerson had described President Trump as a “moron”. Trump offered to compare his IQ scores with Tillerson disputing the allegation. The relationship between Trump and Secretary Tillerson’s over the past year has been tense and rocky. They don’t seem to see eye to eye on a number of issues including the Iran nuclear deal, the confrontation with North Korea and the Middle East. Trump has undercut Tillerson’s efforts at every turn calling Tillerson’s efforts to diplomatically address North Korea’s provocations as a waste of time.