BY TIGISTU AWELU HASSEN
Ethiopia has engaged in international diplomacy with its neighbors and with the European world since the mid-seventeenth and the mid-nineteenth centuries respectively. It is after the victory of Adwa that Ethiopia began to have an important position in the world and be recognized.
This helped the country to form relationships with other countries. Adwa was taken as a model for black countries that were fighting for independence. Menelik II had played important role in modernizing the country by opening modern schools, forming state bureaucracy and diplomatic relation with other countries.
Ethiopia was a member of the League of Nations and a founding member of the United Nations (UN). Emperor Haile Selassie I, had made strong diplomatic efforts and became successful, as a result the Organization of African Unity, now the African Union, and the UN Economic Commission for Africa are headquartered in Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia had also participated in the UN missions in Korea (1950–53) and Congo (1960–64) and, more recently, in Burundi, Liberia, and Rwanda. Its relations with the African and other world communities, in general, have been constructive.
I begin with history, because it is important to understand the context in which Ethiopia’s international relations went through the past centuries. By understanding the past, history as a discipline teaches that one can at least hope to avoid repeating errors of his or her predecessors.
However, the aim of this article is not to discuss the history of Ethiopia’s foreign relation, rather it is to share my views and observation that the diplomatic community seems to have information deficit in relation to the existing situation of Ethiopia.
I have observed that some diplomatic community members seem to have been misinformed merely by their access to individuals who serve as housemaids, drivers, security men and the like. Obviously, individuals have their own beliefs, perceptions and interests on the issues.
We live in the age of information. Our everyday language includes the word ‘information’ in different contexts. Any individual puts an effort either to make himself/herself suitable for the emerging situations of the environment in which he/she exists. Obviously, in any endeavor, the individual prefers an easier way or approach.
The field of Information Seeking behavior in Information Science can broadly be defined as that which is concerned with determining user’s information needs, searching behavior and subsequent use of information. Scholars of this discipline, concerned with understanding how people seek and make use of information, the channels they use to get information, and the factors that inhibit or encourage information access.
Information is a major contributor to international relations. Determining diplomats’ information needs within the context of their work environment, in their respective host nations, is, thus an important step in the information cycle.
Information seeking does not always imply a purposeful activity, but can also take place unintentionally. Information messages are communicated to society in every possible way that may therefore be internalized unintentionally and retrieved when needed.
As to my observation, information searches are conducted by the diplomats themselves, and their preference is also displayed for the use of intermediaries such as personal assistants. This was a case that initiated me to pick my pen on the issue, in relation to how some diplomats are seeking information.
Unfortunately, I met some diplomats and made discussion or shared views on a coffee table. In our discussions, what comes in my mind was that although these people can access to different information channels, they tend to believe their individual assistants.
Recently, as it has got wide coverage in media, Ethiopia’s government has been forced to implement a law enforcement operation against the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) junta. This operation was law enforcement to bring Juntas before the court of law. But Junta’s propaganda has created confusion on the people and some members of the diplomatic community as well. In this regard, some diplomats seem to have fake information which may stand in contradiction with their diplomatic positions.
With respect to information seeking, the principle of least effort postulates that the information seeker chooses a course of action that will involve most convenient empirical methods for information seeking. On the other hand, it is well understood that getting access to timely and accurate information and analysis on a variety of topics can create stress, especially due to the extremely busy and varied program of diplomats.
Effective risk management decreases the risk of failure. Risk-taking is part of the work environment within which the diplomatic community operates, which can be avoided by timeously accessing and utilizing information. Barriers can present themselves in a variety of forms.
The identification of possible barriers confronting diplomats may contribute towards finding solutions in terms of the levels of information service delivery. Personal characteristics, social and educational backgrounds, and exposure to information-seeking can all be determinants of success or failure.
Literature, as produced by scholars in the field, noted that in choosing an applicable model, information seekers need to determine whether the model will present the information required accurately, reliably and systematically, and whether it can explain or predict the desired phenomena. Certainly, each model has its own strengths and weaknesses.
Evidently, as it is mentioned above, Adwa victory served as a symbol of resistance to the black people of the world in giving a lesson to the powerful nations that they had no right to control and colonize the weak countries. From this lesson, the new generation has to learn how Ethiopians had defended the injustices inflicted upon their motherland by invaders and how Ethiopianism began as a movement of all black population in the world.
In addition to this, it is important to acknowledge that the progress of Ethiopia, under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the charismatic and reformist leader, has been shown. In counter, there are elements at work against economic and political reforms in the country.
The recent army conflict with Junta’s force is a witness that how invisible hands work in favor of treason. However, it would not take much to upset the current understanding of the law enforcement action against Junta.
PM Abiy, in his impressive speech to the Parliament, kindly invited the international community to work with his government for mutual benefit, if otherwise, warned to lift their invisible hands out of the rising nation, Ethiopia. The country did not use to give up its freedom in favor of others’ interests, he added.
Eventually, from the above speech, people can understand that love for freedom is one of the most important qualities that is expected of this generation as has been the case of the forefathers.
In order to realize growth and prosperity in Ethiopia, the application of the principles of Ethiopianism such as patriotism, unity, respect to others, loving each other and independence have been given primacy. We, Ethiopians must be eternally vigilant if we are to preserve our nation.
TIGISTU AWELU: Scholar of Middle Eastern Geo-Politics
The Ethiopian herald January 3/2021
