by T. Goshu
How many times we have to fail before we say not only enough is enough; but most importantly rally around the critical issues we do share and act in unison, and end the current ( the third and most miserable ) political failure? Despite the fact that the failure of the absolute monarchy (early 1970s) and the devastating failure of the military regime (1970s and 80s) may arguably have their own explanations based on internal and external circumstances, it is beyond doubt that they are parts and parcels of our terribly failed political history. Sadly enough, it is now 21 years since we entered the third and most horrible political failure which is of course the root cause for making us the people of a failed state. Genuinely concerned fellow Ethiopians, take deep breath and put your-self in sincere and deep thoughts about where we are! Not only this but let us be honest enough with ourselves and challenge ourselves with the question of “what did we do, and what we are doing right now, and where we want to go, and how?” These and many other unanswered questions will continue striking our minds and breaking our hearts until we reach a situation in which we seriously listen to each other and walk the walk together. Having said this self-reminding introductory statement, I want to proceed to the points of view I want to reflect.
Thanks to ESAT, I watched the news about the report of annual index of failed states of the Foreign Policy Magazine in its June 29th issue. I visited the FP website and went through the list of 59 Countries with their points of major criteria. Those criteria are: “demographic pressure, refuges/IDPs, group grievance, human flight, uneven development, economic decline, de- legitimization of the state, public service, human rights, security apparatus, factionalized elites and external intervention.” The statuses of those states are classified as critical, in danger and borderline.
When we say a state, we mean a political entity characterized by three major components namely; a defined territory, the people or citizens, and a government with its various systems. The duties, rights and responsibilities of these components of a state are governed by the supreme law of the land (constitution). Unfortunately enough, this supreme law in our country is not only dysfunctional but is being used as the supreme law of punishing innocent citizens ,but protecting a bunch of politicians who are in power and their cronies. That is why the question of whether a state has failed or succeeded is a very big and serious issue.
Glancing through the list, my eyes stared at number 19 of which Ethiopia ranked. I found myself in a very deeply heart-breaking feeling as if I it was a surprise to me .Yes, it is painful to see my country being number 19th falling under the category of critically failed states which of course includes Somalia being the first critically failed. I was struck hard by a very challenging and paradoxical question: How can and should we reconcile the proudness of our glorious history of independence on the one hand, and the very embarrassing history of political culture, hunger (famine) and all kinds of sufferings on the other hand? Why and how we continue to be one of the most terribly failed states in this 21st century while we claim a history of about three millennia? Why and how we are not still fortunate enough to launch a significantly meaningful progress that could shorten, or end the very dreadful way of doing politics?
I am well aware that all these and several challenging questions are not new at all. They are rather parts and parcels of our age-old political history without a real sense of legitimacy (a real consent of the people). But, as long as those questions not only stay with us unanswered but also get worse and worse, we cannot escape encountering them day-out and day- in, and raising them over and over again.
Well, encountering a state of failure at a certain point of history and a given circumstance is something that should be accepted and dealt with accordingly. This emanates from the fact that failure and success can only be explained and measured in relative terms. Sadly enough, our failure to bring about a political system that should be run based on the will and interests of the people, not at the free will of a bunch of ruling elites is far beyond an acceptable level of relativity . If we turn over the pages of Dictionary of International Relations by Graham Evans and Jeffry Newnahm,1998 , we read the definition of a failed state as follows: the breakdown of law and order; the breakdown of basic services; bitter communal/societal conflicts; politics of violence (Violent is the ruling party in our case); ethnic nationalism; militarism ; endemic regional conflicts; unchecked spread of diseases. Do we really need to go far and work hard in search of proof about all these and other horrible consequences of the tyrannical ruling circle in our country? Not at all! Why? Because the day-to-day lives of the innocent people of Ethiopia speak powerfully clear and loud.
Needless to say, the report by Foreign Policy Magazine has a lot to tell about the seriousness of the failure we are experiencing. And it is beyond any doubt that this is because of a political madness of the ruling elites. The phrases or expressions used by FP (Foreign Policy Magazine) and the dictionary I cited above may not sound extremely horrible for people who are not going through the situations as we are.
How many times we have to fail before we say not only enough is enough; but most importantly rally around the critical issues we do share and act in unison, and end the current ( the third and most miserable ) political failure? Despite the fact that the failure of the absolute monarchy (early 1970s) and the devastating failure of the military regime (1970s and 80s) may arguably have their own explanations based on internal and external circumstances, it is beyond doubt that they are parts and parcels of our terribly failed political history. Sadly enough, it is now 21 years since we entered the third and most horrible political failure which is of course the root cause for making us the people of a failed state. Genuinely concerned fellow Ethiopians, take deep breath and put your-self in sincere and deep thoughts about where we are! Not only this but let us be honest enough with ourselves and challenge ourselves with the question of “what did we do, and what we are doing right now, and where we want to go, and how?” These and many other unanswered questions will continue striking our minds and breaking our hearts until we reach a situation in which we seriously listen to each other and walk the walk together. Having said this self-reminding introductory statement, I want to proceed to the points of view I want to reflect.
Thanks to ESAT, I watched the news about the report of annual index of failed states of the Foreign Policy Magazine in its June 29th issue. I visited the FP website and went through the list of 59 Countries with their points of major criteria. Those criteria are: “demographic pressure, refuges/IDPs, group grievance, human flight, uneven development, economic decline, de- legitimization of the state, public service, human rights, security apparatus, factionalized elites and external intervention.” The statuses of those states are classified as critical, in danger and borderline.
When we say a state, we mean a political entity characterized by three major components namely; a defined territory, the people or citizens, and a government with its various systems. The duties, rights and responsibilities of these components of a state are governed by the supreme law of the land (constitution). Unfortunately enough, this supreme law in our country is not only dysfunctional but is being used as the supreme law of punishing innocent citizens ,but protecting a bunch of politicians who are in power and their cronies. That is why the question of whether a state has failed or succeeded is a very big and serious issue.
Glancing through the list, my eyes stared at number 19 of which Ethiopia ranked. I found myself in a very deeply heart-breaking feeling as if I it was a surprise to me .Yes, it is painful to see my country being number 19th falling under the category of critically failed states which of course includes Somalia being the first critically failed. I was struck hard by a very challenging and paradoxical question: How can and should we reconcile the proudness of our glorious history of independence on the one hand, and the very embarrassing history of political culture, hunger (famine) and all kinds of sufferings on the other hand? Why and how we continue to be one of the most terribly failed states in this 21st century while we claim a history of about three millennia? Why and how we are not still fortunate enough to launch a significantly meaningful progress that could shorten, or end the very dreadful way of doing politics?
I am well aware that all these and several challenging questions are not new at all. They are rather parts and parcels of our age-old political history without a real sense of legitimacy (a real consent of the people). But, as long as those questions not only stay with us unanswered but also get worse and worse, we cannot escape encountering them day-out and day- in, and raising them over and over again.
Well, encountering a state of failure at a certain point of history and a given circumstance is something that should be accepted and dealt with accordingly. This emanates from the fact that failure and success can only be explained and measured in relative terms. Sadly enough, our failure to bring about a political system that should be run based on the will and interests of the people, not at the free will of a bunch of ruling elites is far beyond an acceptable level of relativity . If we turn over the pages of Dictionary of International Relations by Graham Evans and Jeffry Newnahm,1998 , we read the definition of a failed state as follows: the breakdown of law and order; the breakdown of basic services; bitter communal/societal conflicts; politics of violence (Violent is the ruling party in our case); ethnic nationalism; militarism ; endemic regional conflicts; unchecked spread of diseases. Do we really need to go far and work hard in search of proof about all these and other horrible consequences of the tyrannical ruling circle in our country? Not at all! Why? Because the day-to-day lives of the innocent people of Ethiopia speak powerfully clear and loud.
Needless to say, the report by Foreign Policy Magazine has a lot to tell about the seriousness of the failure we are experiencing. And it is beyond any doubt that this is because of a political madness of the ruling elites. The phrases or expressions used by FP (Foreign Policy Magazine) and the dictionary I cited above may not sound extremely horrible for people who are not going through the situations as we are.
- In our case, having a failed state is to be under a bunch of politicians who refused the concerns of not only Ethiopians about being landlocked but also the recommendations of some foreign authorities ,and gave away Port of Asab and put both the economic and security of the country at risk.
- For the Ethiopian people, having a failed sate means to be ruled by a political group (TPLF/EPRDF led by the late Ato Meles who had no any sense of hesitation to say the large tract of Ethiopian land bordering the Sudan belongs to the Sudan and had considered the legitimate claim of Ethiopians as foolish as anything.
- For us, being citizens of a failed state means being ruled by ruling elites led by the late Ato Meles who unequivocally told us that the history of Axum, Adawa and etc. has nothing to with other parts of Ethiopia.
- For the people of Ethiopia, those criteria of failed state means being intimidated, tortured, terrorized, arrested at the free will of those who are in power, and to the extent of being killed for the simple reason demanding for exercising the political freedom and enjoying fundamental human rights.
