The Ethiopian Civil War is A Symptom of US Foreign Policy Dysfunction

[Deeq A.]

Addis Ababa (Comment) — When President Donald Trump arrived at Capitol Hill the exodus of career diplomats at the State Department had followed. Under Trump US policy towards Africa is premised on containment of China. A set of policies pursued in Africa by Trump administration has not only failed but it damaged the reputation of USA as a reliable partner.

President Donald Trump claimed to have won Nobel Peace Prize prematurely conferred on the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in 2019.

The anti-elite rhetoric that Trump exploited in 2016 makes US a country under a dictator who even claimed to have won Nobel Peace Prize prematurely conferred on the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in 2019.

Trump’s unguarded remarks about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam reflect the extent to which the State Department has become amateur diplomats’ den.

How can anyone take Tibor Nagy, the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, seriously when in a tweet, he accuses TPLF of “internationalising the conflict in Ethiopia” despite his boss openly promoting conflict in Africa? A democratic country whose President refuses to concede the election under the pretext that it was rigged cannot make a meaningful contribution to world peace.

It is unfortunate that a civil war erupted in Ethiopia at a time US remains the least diplomatically popular superpower since 1991. Populism will continue to undermine US foreign policy but will never replace the considered judgement of experts derided by Trump and his ilk.

© Puntland Post, 2020

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