Ethiopian Empire Archives

Article | Op-Ed | Politics
What Does the Demand “Remove Article 39” Really Mean?
By OT Editorial Posted on2026-05-152026-05-15
Article 39 of the Ethiopian Constitution is often portrayed as a threat to national unity, but its deeper purpose is widely misunderstood. Far from encouraging separation, Article 39 functions as a constitutional safety valve that guarantees coexistence by consent rather than coercion. This article explores why the demand to remove Article 39 alarms many nations and peoples, the political psychology behind self-determination, and how abolishing constitutional guarantees could unintentionally weaken the very unity its opponents claim to defend.
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Article | Op-Ed | Politics
Ethiopia Forward to the Past: The Politics of Nostalgia and the “Menelik Syndrome”
By Yadessa Guma (PhD, Anthropology) Posted on2026-04-282026-04-28
“Menelik Syndrome” captures a recurring pattern in Ethiopia’s political imagination: the selective revival of an idealized imperial past as a solution to present crises. Framed around the legacy of Menelik II, it elevates symbols of unity, strength, and state consolidation while downplaying the coercive foundations on which that unity was built. In contemporary discourse, this manifests in calls to “restore Ethiopia’s past glory”—a narrative that resonates emotionally but risks reopening unresolved historical contradictions. As a political lens, Menelik Syndrome helps explain how nostalgia, when filtered through power, can shape national identity, influence policy direction, and—paradoxically—intensify fragmentation rather than resolve it.
Read More Ethiopia Forward to the Past: The Politics of Nostalgia and the “Menelik Syndrome”
Article | Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭
The Ethiopian Perspective Gap: Why Some Voices Sound Like Truth—and Others Like Rebuttal
By Roobaa Hawaas (MA, Psychology) Posted on2026-04-232026-04-22
This op-ed explores how mono perspective sociopolitical views shape both art and politics, often presenting particular experiences as universal truths and thereby constraining meaningful dialogue. It argues that progress requires moving beyond such narrow vantage points—particularly among politicians, who are uniquely positioned to resolve complex sociopolitical issues. To do so, they must step outside mono perspective, engage competing realities with discipline, and adopt a genuinely multi-perspective approach capable of addressing long-standing tensions with clarity and fairness.
Read More The Ethiopian Perspective Gap: Why Some Voices Sound Like Truth—and Others Like Rebuttal
Article | Commentary | Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭
Cui Bono? The Political Economy of Conflict and the Oromo Question
By Yadessa Guma (PhD, Anthropology) Posted on2026-04-202026-04-19
“Cui Bono?”—who benefits? This article applies that question to Ethiopia’s recurring cycles of conflict, arguing that instability is not accidental but structurally embedded. By centering the Oromo experience, it shows how political, military, and economic elites—historically reproduced through entrenched advantage—derive disproportionate benefit, while the broader population bears the cost. Without confronting this imbalance and the unresolved Oromo question, durable peace and equitable development will remain elusive.
Read More Cui Bono? The Political Economy of Conflict and the Oromo Question
Article | Community | Human Rights | Politics | ⏭
Ambo: Cruelty in Plain Sight — Violence, Impunity, and the Political Crisis in Oromia
By Yadessa Guma (PhD, Anthropology) Posted on2026-04-162026-04-16
In Ambo, a shocking act of violence against young adults exposes more than individual cruelty—it reveals a growing pattern of impunity and normalized abuse across Oromia. What appears as a single incident reflects a deeper crisis, where violence is increasingly visible, accountability is absent, and fear is woven into daily life. As informal actors and unchecked forces shape events on the ground, the question is no longer whether this is isolated, but how far the pattern extends.
Read More Ambo: Cruelty in Plain Sight — Violence, Impunity, and the Political Crisis in Oromia
Article | Politics
7 Reasons Why There Can Be No Credible Electoral Process in an Empire Disintegrating Before Our Eyes
By Elemoo Qilxuu (MA, Political Science) and Kumaa Daadhii (PhD, Political History) Posted on2026-03-302026-03-29
Even if elections are predetermined, they still require minimum conditions and structures to stage the illusion of democracy. In today’s Ethiopia, those conditions no longer exist. Large parts of Ethiopia are outside regime control, opposition parties participate only to avoid deregistration, insecurity is widespread, and political intimidation is routine. Some regions appear politically detached, actively contemplating a post-Ethiopia political order, and therefore cannot be considered fully participatory in the electoral process. This is no longer an election that can be rigged; it is an election that cannot even be convincingly staged.
Read More 7 Reasons Why There Can Be No Credible Electoral Process in an Empire Disintegrating Before Our Eyes
Article | Opinion | Politics | ⏭
Elite Integration Without Institutional ConsolidationThe Gobana Pattern and the Structural Logic of External Alignment
By Dereje Hawas (PhD, Elec Eng) Posted on2026-03-202026-03-20
Elite Integration has repeatedly appeared in Oromo political history as a rational response to fragmentation, weak internal authority, and expanding centralized power. This essay argues that the “Gobana Pattern” is not a story of regional betrayal or personal defect, but a recurring structural dynamic in which elites align externally when institutional consolidation is absent. It concludes a broader series on fragmentation, authority architecture, and the political consequences of mobilization without durable institutional power.
Read More Elite Integration Without Institutional ConsolidationThe Gobana Pattern and the Structural Logic of External Alignment
Commentary | Opinion | Politics
Can Recognizing a Moral Asymmetry Bridge Ethiopia’s Worlds-Apart Historical Narratives?
By Elemoo Qilxuu (MA, Political Science) Posted on2026-03-152026-03-14
Ethiopia’s debate over Menelik II reflects far more than disagreement about a ruler’s legacy. It reveals two historical memories occupying the same political space yet interpreting the same events in radically different ways. This essay introduces the concept of moral asymmetry—the unequal ethical weight between disputing a leader’s greatness and denying the suffering experienced by others—and explores whether acknowledging this asymmetry can help narrow Ethiopia’s deeply divided historical narratives.
Read More Can Recognizing a Moral Asymmetry Bridge Ethiopia’s Worlds-Apart Historical Narratives?
Article | Commentary | Opinion | Politics
Oromos and the Architecture of AuthoritySurvival, Role Discipline, and Institutional Design
By Dereje Hawas (PhD, Elec Eng) Posted on2026-03-102026-03-06
Calls for unity within the Oromo political sphere have become increasingly frequent, yet unity alone does not produce strategic effectiveness. This article argues that the deeper problem is the lack of an effective architecture of authority capable of assigning roles, managing disagreement, and converting mobilization into institutional power. Drawing on the historical experience of 1991 and the 2014–2018 mobilizations, it examines why fragmentation persists and outlines the institutional design needed for durable political authority.
Read More Oromos and the Architecture of AuthoritySurvival, Role Discipline, and Institutional Design
Article | Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭
Oromos and the Rising Risk of Regional War: Power, Leverage, and Post-War Reality
By Dereje Hawas (PhD, Elec Eng) Posted on2026-02-222026-02-16
War is not decided by outrage, slogans, or population size, but by organization, internal consolidation, and clear political priorities. As tensions re-emerge in northern Ethiopia, Oromos face a strategic question: will they shape a potential regional war’s outcome, or be shaped by it? Demography and geography create leverage only when converted into disciplined coordination. The lessons of 1991 and 2018 show that mobilization without institutional capacity yields participation without authorship.
Read More Oromos and the Rising Risk of Regional War: Power, Leverage, and Post-War Reality
Article | Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭
Ethiopia, Empire, and the Architecture of Perpetual Violence
By Elemoo Qilxuu (MA, Political Science) Posted on2026-02-202026-02-20
Video footage circulating on social media showing ENDF forces deliberately destroying grain stored in Amhara farmers’ warehouses stopped me cold. If you were challenged to write an essay on this sadistic act, what would your take be? How would you title it—The Banality of Cruelty in a Militarized State? When the State Trains Young Men to Laugh at Hunger?
For me, this footage reveals far more than a single atrocity. It exposes something deeply rotten—structural, inherited, and unresolved—at the core of an empire called Ethiopia.
Please bear with me. Stay with me for a brief but unflinching analysis of what lies beneath the surface.
Read More Ethiopia, Empire, and the Architecture of Perpetual Violence
Editorial | Politics | ⏭
Math Meets PP Myth No. 5: When 12 Billion Birr GERD Contributions Become Insults
By OT Editorial Posted on2026-01-232026-01-23
In this fifth installment of Math Meets PP Myth, the dismissal of 12 billion birr as “insignificant” reveals more than numerical abuse. It exposes a psychology of power that cannot tolerate shared ownership. Leaders secure in legitimacy thank contributors; insecure ones belittle them. Reducing citizens to percentages is not economic analysis—it is political conditioning, preparing the public to accept exclusion, silence, and hierarchy under the guise of math.
Read More Math Meets PP Myth No. 5: When 12 Billion Birr GERD Contributions Become Insults
Article | Opinion | Politics | ⏭
Lidetu Ayalew, Finfinnee, Oromia, Federalism, and the Perils of Principle-free Politics
By Elemoo Qilxuu (MA, Political Science) Posted on2026-01-162026-01-15
When politics loses its grammar, words stop meaning what they mean and power begins to masquerade as principle. In critiquing Lidetu Ayalew, this piece is not about personal disappointment but about a deeper political failure: the refusal to accept irreversible facts of federalism, Oromo self-rule, and historical reality. Denial is not argument. Semantic inversion is not moderation. And restoration politics, however eloquent, cannot substitute for credible, principled leadership.
Read More Lidetu Ayalew, Finfinnee, Oromia, Federalism, and the Perils of Principle-free Politics
Siyaasa | Yaada
Waayee Aabbuu Seeraa Fi Misooma Ilaalchisee, Ergaa Faarseebulaa Fi
By OROMIA TODAY Posted on2026-01-122026-01-12
Yerroo ammaa kana, Faarseebulaan ofii janjayee, biyaa janjessaa jira. "Misoomnni" ummataa Oromoo balleessuf karooraa baafatee ka'e yoo qeeqaan, akka faallaa misoomaa dhabaatanitti fudhatu. Bayyen isaanii, oduma beekanuu, firiifaarii jarri itti darbatani jechuuf, dununfatanii quuqaama Oromoo irratti duulu. Kan sobee rafe silaawu hin damaqqu; mee kan dhugaa rafe, Afaan Ingiliffa'rra Afaan Oromoo dubbisuun salphaa yoo ta'ef jechuun barruu kana maxansine.
Read More Waayee Aabbuu Seeraa Fi Misooma Ilaalchisee, Ergaa Faarseebulaa Fi
Campaign | ⏭
Save the Tuulamaas and Their Ancestral Lands
By GLONA (GLobal Odaa Nabee Association) Posted on2026-01-092026-01-11
Tuulamaa did not vanish by accident. Over 150 years, “development” projects—from Finfinne and Bole Airport to today’s Mega Airport—have systematically erased Tuulamaa communities in central Oromia. This article exposes the pattern, highlights the latest threat, and calls readers to peaceful, informed action before the Tuulamaa story becomes history written in concrete.
Read More Save the Tuulamaas and Their Ancestral Lands
Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭
How Will Medemer Be Remembered?
By Kumaa Daadhii (PhD, Political History) Posted on2026-01-072026-01-07
Medemer will not be remembered by its promises but by its consequences. Branded as a "doctrine" of unity, Medemer instead presided over spectacle development confined to the capital, permanent war governance, economic unraveling, normalized brutality, and systematic evictions of central Oromia. The glitter of street lights masked structural collapse, while fear became an instrument of rule. History is likely to record Medemer not as "addition", but as "subtraction"—of lives, trust, justice, and peoples' unrealized potential.
Read More How Will Medemer Be Remembered?

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