BY DEJEN RAS
CNN reported on 11.06.2021 about the visit of US President Biden to Europe. In this report, we find a reflection that the president is carefully crafting his message during his first trip abroad to show a united West, to challenge what he sees as an “aggressive Russia and a competitive China.” That is it! This says it all. The west is highly worried about two aspects. The first is about the usual enemy of the West, Russia, since the cold war time. The second one is the rising economically competitive China. The former is trying to [re]build its military power and influence as in the past and the latter is eroding the economic dominance of the West little by little. In this regard, the President must try to unify the West against these two forces after the failure of his predecessor to pull the strength of the usual coalition of forces of the West, by simply claiming “America first” slogan. What does this have to do with Ethiopia? Hmmm, it means a lot for Ethiopia. Actually, this says it all about the current pressure from the West on Ethiopia.
Remember, when the West was fighting a proxy war with Russia in Ethiopia during the Derg military regime it was all about the SOVIET UNION against the WEST. Then, they use many different pretexts to facilitate the downfall of the Derg regime. Especially, the hunger pretext they have used to channel military aid and finance to the rebels who were then fighting the Derg. Similarly, today the West is trying to [re]create the famine and humanitarian pretext in the Tigray region. They literally are in bed with the sympathizers and supporters of the former governing party, TPLF, which they have invested in for more than 45 years. They do not really care for the people of Tigray. They are going to use the people as a bargaining chip to get whatever they want to get.
The new aspect of the West’s concern is the economical challenger China’s grab of Africa’s raw material along with other economic activities. The intensity and the rate at which China is growing economically is threatening the West. It is easy to see how many of the goods the Westerners utilize are produced from China. Its dominance over the countries of Africa is highly related to the national security of these Western countries. One thing stands clear these days – Western corporations who almost control the wealth of these countries are the ones who are highly concerned. These are the ones who drive, from the back, these political figures and parties in their own direction. For example, the attitude of the USA towards China is no different between the incumbent and the present occupant of the Whitehouse. They all wanted to weaken China and abate its economic dominance.
As they say, “When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.” As these mighty nations fight, it is usually other nations who are chosen as a place of the proxy war which suffer the most. This time, these countries have chosen Ethiopia to be one of the battle grounds. They use the pretext of the diplomatic conflict over the GERD between the three African countries, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt, or the humanitarian crises in the northern part of the country or even the border conflicts between Sudan and Ethiopia. But the main concern all the way is that their interest in the region must not be shared or taken by their adversaries, Russia, China, and even other Middle Eastern countries. That is what is in the mind of the President of the most powerful nation on the planet. USA may try to send different signals to its adversaries during the present G7 meeting: military, economic, and diplomatic signals. It is good to know what is at stake here for all parties. They are using any means to get what they want in line with their previous history.
