
BY DEJEN RAS
The house of representatives, with H.R.6600, and the senate, with S.3199, are targeting Ethiopia by legislating a law that will encircle Ethiopia and force the country to crumble for the interest of the west or for the country to be ruined in the coming decades. One may ask, why these bills? What are the main reasons for the US to target Ethiopia and its over 120-million people? In this piece, the writer would attempt to provide three possible reasons.
Halting the flow of the economy
A western friend who has comprehensive knowledge about the world economy explained the following in a great detail. Here the writer presented it very briefly. He draws a line dividing the world into two regions, and called each of them the western and the eastern parts of the world. For his convenience, he put the line around the Middle East, but he also included Africa in the eastern part of the region. Then, he said approximately 37% of the world’s economy lies in the western part of the world, while 63% of the world economy lies in the eastern part.
Every day the economy flows from west to east in a small amount. He stated these drawing arrows that represent the unseen movements of the flow of the economy. It seems the flow from the western countries to the eastern countries has been in place for the last four decades. He continued, in 2050, the western country’s economy represents only 20 % of the world’s total economy provided that this pattern continues. That means the economic doomsday for the western countries due to the economic flow is the prospect that western nations are facing. Their attempt seems to stop the flow by any means possible.
Many eastern countries like China, Singapore, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, and so on are progressing rapidly. These countries are responsible for the flow of the economy eastward. Even, Ethiopia was registering almost a two-digit economic growth every year for the past decade. There are many reasons that spurs the economic growth. Remember, regional allies of the West benefits from the economic investments of the former.
Ethiopia enjoyed a similar type of economic favor against Eritrea. That is Ethiopia is/was benefiting from the western favors due to its geopolitical partnership with the western countries. No doubt, the TPLF-led government was the main force in the horn protecting their interest in the past few decades.
What is more, even the Ethiopian diaspora in the Western countries sends 3.6 billion dollars in remittance to their home country every year contributing to the flow of the economy from the western to the eastern part of the world.
Now, the western countries are strategizing using hidden mechanisms to stop the flow of that economy from the western to the eastern part of the world. They should use the usual pretexts to implement their strategies: and they accuse the government of Ethiopia over violation of human rights, committing genocides, deliberate famine, terrorism, and so on. Now in Ethiopia, they have got a bloody war. They have used that to draft H.R.6600 and S.3199. We do not think they will stop it until they get what they want.
National Security for the western nations
The second grand reason why the USA House of Representatives and Senate are collaborating to impose an all-rounded sanction is to guarantee their “national security”. As stated above, Ethiopia used to be a strategic partner in the horn of Africa for the USA, the UK, and the EU. That is the reason behind the huge economical and security partnerships. But this investment and assistance to the country are solely based on their national and regional interest.
If their interest is not protected, it means it is a huge security issue for them. That is why they were all assisting the TPLF to come back to power. But they find it out that it is not working. This has humiliated them. But they are not disappearing into the thin air. They have changed their strategies.
They find out that the previous strategies they used to overthrow the Derg regime did not work to overthrow the PM Abiy Ahmed government. As they assess why it did not, there is one parameter that comes out loud and clear: the involvement of the diaspora in the economy, public and digital diplomacy as well as political advocacy. The west was not able to deceive and win the propaganda war as in 1991 in the past year, 2021. When they expect the country will crumble in its economy due to the war and the travel sanctions of the western countries, hundreds of thousands of diaspora flow to their homeland. They were responding to the one million diaspora call by PM Abiy to come home for the Christmas celebration. The west’s strategy was to bring the nation on its knee. But it did not capitalize. Hence another strategy is being devised: H.R.6600 and S.3199. The EU and the UK might follow also.
Millions of dollars paid to lobbyists and some politicians
The third reason is money: millions of dollars are pumped to the coffers of lobbyists and some politicians in order to push bills like H.R.6600 and S.3199 to their respective floors. For this to happen there are two main forces who are pursuing their interest by paying huge amounts of money. One is TPLF. They have billions of dollars in western countries which
was stolen from Ethiopian people in the past three decades. TPLF supporters are seen on different media contributing to the election campaigns of different politicians recently. In addition, it seems behind closed doors, many top politicians are taking their share. One of the four senators, who has drafted the senate S.3199 bill against Ethiopia, has been accused of taking bribe money this week to draft another bill. Of course, in the USA law, this has to be verified and before that, the person is not guilty. But it seems clear that such a person who is pushing the bill against Ethiopia is not doing things standing at a higher moral ground. We doubt that.
Of course, our historical enemy, Egypt is not hibernating either. Egypt has been selling its three currencies right now at a higher cost: The Suez canal for its global business movement, headquarters of the Arab League, and its proximity with Israel. Now a fourth currency is added for them. They are siding with Ukraine and western nations against Russia and maybe also against China. But for Egypt, the main national security threat comes from the GERD project and the dam activities around the Nile in Ethiopia. This is the highest priority for them. Hence, they invest millions of dollars for lobbyists, and spoiled politicians to secure bills like H.R.6600 and S.3199.
It is good to see events from a bigger perspective than focusing on the smaller events that are taking our energy and time. All the above three reasons fed on one another, and the western forces seem not to sleep until they get what they want. Therefore, the question that we all must address is: How can we defend our people and home country from the looming threat?
Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
The Ethiopian Herald March 26/2022