**Ethiopia's Contemporary Crisis: Historical Roots and Drivers of National Unraveling**Ethiopia's current political crisis did not emerge overnight. Its roots stretch back to the late nineteenth century, when Emperor Menelik II expanded the Ethiopian Empire through military conquest, incorporating diverse peoples and territories into a centralized imperial system.From Menelik II to Haile Selassie, from the Derg to the EPRDF and today's Prosperity Party, successive governments have inherited, reshaped, and struggled with the political contradictions of the Ethiopian state.This episode of **Eritrawi Podcast** examines the historical forces behind Ethiopia's recurring instability: imperial expansion, land dispossession, ethnic inequality, political repression, foreign intervention, and the concentration of power.Particular attention is given to Eritrea's experience under Ethiopian rule, the United Nations' decision to federate Eritrea with Ethiopia, the systematic dismantling of Eritrean autonomy, and the decades-long armed struggle that contributed to the collapse of successive Ethiopian governments.The discussion follows Ethiopia's political transformations through the 1974 revolution, the military dictatorship of the Derg, the events of 1991, Eritrea's independence, the 1998–2000 border war, and the political order that emerged under the EPRDF.It then turns to the present: the conflicts in Amhara, Oromia, and Tigray, mass displacement, agricultural land acquisitions, economic dependency, and the contradictions between Ethiopia's internal instability and the Abiy Ahmed government's renewed demands for sovereign access to the Red Sea.**Can Ethiopia resolve its contemporary crises without confronting the historical structures that helped create them? Or are successive governments repeating the same patterns under different political names?**Drawing on the article *Ethiopia's Contemporary Crisis: Historical Roots and Drivers of National Unraveling*, this episode explores the relationship between imperial history, state formation, territorial ambition, and the recurring crises of the Ethiopian political system.**Eritrawi Podcast | Eritrean History, Horn of Africa Politics & Historical Analysis**#Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritrawiPodcast #EritreaPodcast #PodcastEritrea #HornOfAfrica #EritreanHistory #MenelikII #HaileSelassie #AbiyAhmed #ProsperityParty #RedSea #AfricanHistory

Abiy Ahmed: From Peace to Betrayal — The Imperial Dream Threatening the Horn of Africa

In 2018, Ethiopia and Eritrea made peace. The historic rapprochement was celebrated internationally as the beginning of a new era of cooperation and stability in the Horn of Africa.

Eight years later, the relationship has deteriorated into renewed hostility, accusations and escalating tensions over Eritrea's sovereign Red Sea coastline.

What went wrong?

In this episode of Eritrawi Podcast, we examine the political trajectory of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed through the central argument of Ghidewon Abay Asmerom's article, Abiy Ahmed Ali: Receiving Good, Repaying It with Evil, published by Red Sea Beacon.

The article draws on a Tigrinya proverb:

“በላዕ ጥዑም ፈዳይ ሕሱም” — One who receives good but repays it with evil.

From the promise of reconciliation to the resurgence of confrontation, we explore the contradictions between Abiy's international image as a peacemaker and the conflicts and geopolitical tensions that have marked his leadership.

We examine the narrative of a childhood prophecy, the symbolism of kingship, the dream of imperial greatness, Ethiopia's internal wars, drone warfare, and the growing controversy surrounding demands for access to the Red Sea.

At the heart of the episode is Eritrea: its role in the 2018 peace process, its sovereign coastline, the strategic port of Assab, and the question of whether regional diplomacy can survive when trust between neighbours collapses.

Can a leader who once received international recognition for making peace become a source of renewed confrontation with the very country that helped make that peace possible?

And what happens when the ambitions of one government collide with the sovereignty of neighbouring nations?

This episode examines the history, political arguments and consequences of a relationship that moved from celebrated reconciliation to profound distrust.

Source article:
Ghidewon Abay Asmerom — Abiy Ahmed Ali: Receiving Good, Repaying It with Evil
Red Sea Beacon
https://redseabeacon.com/abiy-ahmed-ali-receiving-good-repaying-it-with-evil/

Eritrawi Podcast | Eritrea Podcast | Podcast Eritrea

#Eritrea #Ethiopia #AbiyAhmed #EritrawiPodcast #RedSea #Assab #HornOfAfrica #EritreaPodcast #PodcastEritrea #Geopolitics #EritreanHistory #RedSeaBeacon

The Vote Eritrea Was Denied

Who had the right to decide Eritrea’s future?

After the defeat of Italian colonial rule, Eritrea’s fate became the subject of international negotiations. Britain administered the territory, competing powers pursued their own strategic interests, and diplomats debated whether Eritrea should become independent, be partitioned, or be linked with Ethiopia.

At the centre of this episode is a striking contradiction. Sylvia Pankhurst, one of Britain’s best-known anti-colonial and human-rights campaigners, documented the dismantling of Eritrea’s industries and infrastructure under British administration. Yet she also became a prominent advocate for linking Eritrea with Ethiopia, presenting it as a historical correction.

Inside the United Nations, however, another argument was being made. Pakistan’s representative, Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, warned that Ethiopia’s suffering under Italian occupation could not justify deciding the political future of another people. The wishes of Eritreans themselves, he argued, had to be the overriding consideration.

Eritreans were consulted, political movements were heard and competing proposals were investigated. But the population was never given a referendum to choose its own political future. In 1950, the United Nations instead chose federation with Ethiopia.

The compromise was made in diplomatic chambers rather than at an Eritrean ballot box.

The federation came into effect in 1952. Its autonomy was progressively eroded, and in 1962 it was abolished entirely. What followed was a decades-long armed struggle that ended with Eritrean forces taking control of the country in 1991.

Then, in 1993, Eritreans finally received the ballot that had been absent four decades earlier:

Do you approve Eritrea to become an independent sovereign state?

This episode traces the journey from colonial rule and international diplomacy to federation, repression, armed struggle and, ultimately, the vote through which Eritreans formally determined their own political future.

Podcast Eritrea | Eritrea Podcast | Eritrean History Podcast | History of Eritrea | Eritrea History

#Eritrea #EritreanHistory #EritrawiPodcast #PodcastEritrea #EritreaPodcast #SylviaPankhurst #EritreanHistory #AfricanHistory #HornOfAfrica #SelfDetermination