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Ethiopia, the “step-daughter” of America?

By Wondemhunegn Ezezew*

The genesis of official relations between the US and Ethiopia goes as far back as early 1900s,an epoch when Emperor Menilik was deeply obsessed with the task of modernizing the country by importing technologies and “new ideas” from the Industrialized Western Community. After the battle of Adwa and the moving victory against Italy, the Emperor must have been contemplating the importance of establishing new cronies as the old ones proved increasingly dangerous by demanding more territories in a continent which did not belong to them after all. There existed a period of great suspicion and uncertainty about outsiders especially Europeans. Thus America’s gesture was received--at least without unnecessary hesitation-- to have some antidote to the growing beastly behaviours of colonial powers from Europe. Menilik may have thought of killing two birds with a single stone: on the one hand to countermand security threats and to maintain the territorial integrity of the country by fashioning new alliance with the US, which was, as it is today, a robust economic and military spearhead across the Atlantic. On the other the Emperor could have been convinced that America was a “better” partner to work with in realizing the modernization and revitalization of Ethiopia’s backward economic and social infrastructure as the US did not have negative records (until then!) for screwing up in the domestic affairs of African countries.

Haile Selassie with JFK in Washington

The Ethio-American “friendship” that started in the very beginning of the 20th century did not mature as fast as it should have especially when we consider the angst of Menilik and his urgent need of support to tackle both domestic economic problems and the hydra of external threats to the country’s existence. America was not willing to step up timely support for Menilik despite the urgency of the problems from within and without. This annoying US disinclination vis-à-vis the Emperor’s largely economic concerns and its extremely tardy response to Ethiopia’s call should not be so much surprising—America is quick to act when it needs us, and not when we do need her. If the US had helped Ethiopia at the right time—by providing the required development assistance and military hardware-- we could have successfully warded off the fascist aggression of early 1930s there by forestalling the massacre of thousands of Ethiopians. During the fascist resistance that lasted till 1943(in the north western part of the country), it was the British that stood on the side of Ethiopia through thick and thin. The US was nowhere for our help; it did not need us by then so it was not willing to help us.

It was only in the late 1940s that this relation was given some boost upon the signing of military and economic cooperation agreements between the two countries. A decade after Ras Teferi’s coronation as Haile Selassie I, America started a “straight” involvement in the internal affairs of Ethiopia because of the badly needed strategic location of Abyssinia amidst worsening security related complications in the Middle East. With the drumming up of the Cold War, there came the time for America to “consider” Abyssinia after forty years of diplomatic relations! The US started a policy of active engagement and its diplomats and technical advisers continued to bang on the gate of the Imperial Palace. Although they had hesitated to lend Menilik a hand, after WW II they promised to give us “much” money when they discovered that we were of some use to make America more secure. In early 1950s trifling sum of dollars started to flow in. During the reign of Haile Selassie, Ethiopia received more than 630 million dollars in military and economic aid--not so much money given the political cost for our country. This amount that we received between 1940 and 1974 constitutes only less than 0.9 per cent of the nearly 50 billion dollars that the US gave to Israel in the same period after the Jewish State was re-established in Palestine in 1948.Today Pakistan, Israel and Egypt together enjoy more than one third of the total US foreign aid annually. With the exception of Israel, the other two do not have good records in democratic governance and are notorious for invariable suppression of civil and political rights; but, these countries remain top on the list of US foreign aid beneficiaries.

Despite the iterative expressions by the US for strategic and security cooperation with Ethiopia, America has not been generous enough to deliver the “appropriate amount” of the money required to tackle the unacceptable level of poverty and recurrent famine in this hapless African country. The money that we have been receiving since the late 1940s is simply so nominal that the whole intention is to ensure that we won’t die, and not to keep us alive. To put it in a nut shell America’s few dollars, have only bought for Ethiopia many enemies while the reciprocal benefits from eliminating extreme deprivation in Ethiopia has been given a short thrift by US policy makers. That is why I dare to say that Ethiopia has been a step daughter of America. For a more lifelike picture we can see the following table to understand how Uncle Sam has been a step father towards Ethiopia! The data cover the period from 1945 to 2006 and include only formal economic and military assistances.

The economic and military grants to Ethiopia (combining the sums from1948 to 1974 and 1991 till today) from the US stands at less than four billion dollars! In comparison with either Israel’s or Egypt’s, Ethiopia’s receipts are almost negligible. Even more surprising, recently Ato Meless told us that he received “zero” from the US to trudge into his thoughtless mess up in Somalia. One would wonder why Ethiopian troops sacrifice their precious lives for America when this country is extremely stingy to give the required aid to Ethiopia let alone to sacrifice the lives Americans for Ethiopia’s sake.


It is an open secret that Uncle Sam does not have the reputation for principled and morally guided actions in international relations. All what the US does is blindly driven by the fervor of ideological keenness or self-seeking venality. When the so called “US interest” is to be shielded or promoted, it does not matter who bears the cost or who suffers the rough ends of injustice; it is not in the habit of US foreign policy makers to cogitate on the possibility of spending the colossal sum of dollars to finance some social projects that benefit the most frustrated segments of a society that too often are susceptible to criminal/terrorist temptations. Instead, each year a large amount of US treasure is wasted rashly. The war on Iraq is a good example in this case. For over five years now, the US has been in quagmire in its ill conceived war to hunt down marauding terrorists as a result of which all Iraqis turned out more and more incensed at its destructive mission. Thus the campaign which was initially intended to eliminate few fugitive terrorists ended up creating millions of anti-American elements thereby pumping up the economic and political burdens of the Bush Administration in the struggle to squash the growing insurgency and violence that has become a life of mind boggling routine in Iraq. Today America has more enemies in Iraq than it had in 2003! Imagine how many Iraqis would stand on the side of America by giving tip off about the whereabouts of the suspected extremists if the US had committed that huge sum of money ($4 trillion dollars!!) in order to provide employment opportunities or to subsidize the fragile means of livelihood among the poor Iraqis. Unfortunately, Americans absurdly assume that they can fight and win everything by themselves through military adventure. What is ironic is that, the higher the defense budget and the greater US military operations in several corners of the world, anti-Americanism has followed an upward spiral and the issue of security has remained a hot potato for the United States since the end of the Second World War.

The other problem with US foreign aid to poor nations like ours is that the money goes to loyal dictators. The fact that America fraternizes with few dictators giving the broad mass a wide berth has been a major obstacle in utilizing this aid for democratization and social transformation in many developing countries including Ethiopia. The “US dollar” played the leading role in toppling Sadam Hussein and “imposing” Sheik Ghazi al-Yawar, in ousting Norodon Sihanouk and replacing him by Lon Nol, in driving out Mengistu and bringing Meless to power. In all these scenarios the consequences have been extremely disastrous as they were done to serve US interests than to address the plight of the people in these counties. As a result no matter how much money the US offers to these dictators, it is almost always beyond the reach of independent auditors and the dictators may use this money to indulge in extravagantly corrupt and dirty personal aspirations. The Meless regime, for instance, has received more than three billion dollars in aid since it came to power in 1991,most of which, I suspect, was not used to solve the thorny economic situation in the country given the mania that the US shows for the leaders instead of the practical problems that hammer the common citizens of Ethiopia.

We celebrated the 100th year of Ethio-American diplomatic relations in 2003, the same year that Iraq was invaded by the US! That year I had the chance to participate in a photographic exhibition held with in the premises of the then Alemaya University. After a century, I could notice, the US has changed a lot but the same story goes on about Ethiopia. It is all about famine, war, violence, political repression, human rights violation, persecution, torture, mass arrest, killings, migration, drought, poor harvest, and natural resource degradation. The list goes on. I wondered why America does not want to help its friend that it knows for more than one hundred years! Because, as the saying goes, a friend in need is a friend indeed! This is no shameful for my country to seek America’s assistance as even Europe itself received US aid after the end of WW II.The US, if it has to play an important role, it is in our economics, and not in our politics! But America does not understand that. Even the codification of HR 2003, if it happens ever, cannot guarantee the prevalence of democratic governance in Ethiopia. If having statute laws were the solution, then the unusually interesting Constitution that TPLF/EPRDF introduced could have brought equality and justice in our land. That has not happened, however. It is high time that Uncle Sam gave us the money, leaving the issue of democracy for us Ethiopians.

America has been the “Almighty” entity of this worldly kingdom since the on set of World War I. With the ever increasing sophistication of communication technologies and grand scientific progress, this country has entered the 21st century as the sole world policeman, especially in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The effects of its military and economic strengths are globally resonating. The US played an imperative role in the transformation of post-war starving Europe into a strong economic powerhouse and military might. After WW II, the 13 billion-dollar-aid under the Marshall Plan (most of which went to the UK, Italy, France and the then West Germany) not only saved millions of helpless Europeans from famine but also laid the foundation for a more competitive and secure Europe that we witness today. America has financed the “creation” of a strong industrial community in South Korea and helped the restoration of Japanese war-torn economy after 1945.These countries benefited from US generosity in exchange for the adoption of capitalist ideology and market economy in their countries as part of the anti-communist alliance against the eastern block. Now all these countries turned out with much gain; with sound economy and functional democracy to say the least.

We need in billions!

Given the prices that it has been paying for US security interests, Ethiopia has not been rewarded acceptably. When we choose to cooperate with America, we become enemies to the enemies of America. Even though this cooperation between the two countries has mutual benefits, it is the US that has special interest in our country and for that it has to pay a special gratitude. If only America can help build a strong Ethiopia with sound economy and reliable military capability that the common goal of ensuring peace and security could be achieved in the region. Otherwise neglecting the “natural” immiseration of Ethiopia would be tantamount to keeping the country weak making it vulnerable to attacks from the common enemies as a result of which both the US and Ethiopia will be losers. Thus if Ethiopia is to contribute to regional peace and stability, US foreign policy makers must come up with innovative ideas and ample resources in revitalizing the country’s gruesome economic situation there by solving one of its most prickly internal problems. In that case internally stable Ethiopia can effectively handle external threats of regional peace and security. To this end we need in hundreds of billions (if possible in trillion!) from America as it happened in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

* The writer can be reached at bishangary@yahoo.com

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of nazret.com. The views are solely that of the author.

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