From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Tue Apr 07 2009 - 11:18:17 EDT
Monday, April 6, 2009
Panel at Howard University on U.S. policy in the Horn of Africa
I participated in a panel hosted by the Oromo Studies Association at
Howard University in Washington on April 4 and gave a subsequent
interview to the Oromo language service of the Voice of America. The
theme of the conference was "U.S. Policy in the Horn of Africa:
Opportunities and Prospects for Change under the Obama Administration."
Other members of the panel were Terrence Lyons, associate professor at
George Mason University, and Ezekiel Gebissa, associate professor at
Kettering University.
I emphasized during the panel and in the VOA interview that it is
important to treat the Horn of Africa as a region as conflicts in any
one country inevitably have important implications for one or more
neighboring countries. It is also essential that the United States work
cooperatively with traditional allies and some of the new non-African
countries that have growing influence in the region. I urged the mostly
Ethiopian-American audience of Oromo heritage not to accept the
commonly-held view that the United States wields enormous control over
the Ethiopian government through its assistance program, which consists
mostly of funding to combat HIV/AIDS and humanitarian assistance. U.S.
influence is important but not uniquely critical to the Ethiopian
government.
Although the 2005 national elections in Ethiopia ended badly and the
2008 local elections were a missed opportunity to restart a competitive
electoral process, I noted that the Eritrean-based Oromo Liberation
Front (OLF) also missed an opportunity when it boycotted the 2005
elections. It is difficult to be optimistic about competitive national
elections in 2010, but if discussions between the Ethiopian government
and the OLF suggest the possibility of good elections on a
relatively-level playing field, the OLF should engage politically. Its
long-standing armed struggle against the government has not been
successful and shows no sign that it will be successful.
As for the Obama Administration and the concerns of the Oromo in
Ethiopia, I doubted that the new administration will focus on any
particular ethnic group in Ethiopia. Although the Oromo constitute by
far the largest group in the country, there are some 85 ethnic groups in
Ethiopia. It is not realistic to expect the American government to
single out the grievances of any particular group. On the other hand, I
believe the Obama administration will give greater attention generally
to the process of democratization and human rights issues in Ethiopia.
This should work to the advantage of the Oromo.
Posted by Amb. David H. Shinn at 4:07 PM
Labels: Barack Obama, democratization, Eritrea, Ethiopia, HIV/AIDS, Horn
of Africa, Howard University, human rights, Oromo, Oromo Liberation
Front, VOA
http://davidshinn.blogspot.com/2009/04/panel-at-howard-university-on-us-
policy.html
<http://www.voanews.com/english/Archive/images/shinn150.jpg>
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