A United Nations vote to condemn the enslavement of Africans and the trans-Atlantic slave trade should have been morally straightforward. Instead, the voting pattern revealed something deeper about the modern world: the past is never just the past. It lives in politics, memory, and responsibility, and sometimes history returns and asks the present to respond.
Ethiopia’s looming collapse, the article argues, stems from six enduring lies that distort its identity and history—from the myth of a 3,000-year nation and claims of never being colonized to the illusion of unity and heroism. These deceptions, sustained by political elites and echoed through propaganda, have fractured trust, erased diversity, and silenced truth. Unless Ethiopia confronts these falsehoods, embraces genuine federalism, and addresses historical injustices—particularly against the Oromo—its instability will deepen beyond repair.
