A continental test of principles

Ethiopia has delivered on its declared intention of pulling its military forces out of Somalia. What are the repercussions for Ethiopia domestically and for the continent? This unilateral and unforced withdrawal will help to ease political disagreements over the thorny issue of the campaign’s justification. Events leading up to the brief war displayed several new developments in Ethiopian political decision making, foreign policy and in the nation’s military posture.

Politically it was the first time that rather than by decree, a consensus was sought by theruling party – a motion that was twice rejected by a sizable segment of the opposition.Regardless of the obvious risk of more polarization, even the PM’s failure to obtain consensusfrom the staunchly and first ever anti-war lobby in Ethiopia, are all signs of developingpolitical maturity.

The entire Somali incursion and experience have raised the ugly stereotype of strongmenarbitrarily declaring war, and the even uglier one of Ethiopians blindly rushing to war withoutpublic debate. This can only be a welcome development, the fruits of which will be greaterplurality and inter-party dialogue. In terms of a shift in Ethiopia’s foreign policy, thecampaign has confirmed to doubters that Ethiopia is no longer a meek pushover but an assertivestate that can and will protect its national interest with a new found vigour. With all that said, it is now first up to the Somali people, then the AU and finally theinternational community to galvanize themselves and make Ethiopia’s sacrifices count. Sadly, theresponses given to the call for troops for an AU peace keeping force are lukewarm with only 25%of the required troops pledged. At this point we salute and admire Uganda and Malawi, both smallcountries with big hearts.

We are dismayed to see such continental giants like Egypt – usually very vocal about Somalia -sit back in silence when it comes to contributing troops or even giving the most modest ofpolitical support. Perhaps it is miffed that it has lost the initiative in the horn region. Nevertheless, it is hoped that President Hosni Mubarak, if he deigns to come, will rise to theoccasion and recommit his country to African causes. The southern giant is also not performing up to its extensive capacity as Africa’s richestnation. Granted South Africa is minimally involved in Burundi, but the fact remains that Africafeels somewhat let down by a nation whose birth entailed huge sacrifices from especially the thenFrontline States and the continent in general. Libya’s gesture of commitment is welcome but should be taken with a pinch of salt. Unfortunately, the erratic nature of the leadership is ample reason to doubt Libya’s African credentials - something that has not been helped by Moumar Gadaffi’s mixed goodies and bags of gold at Addis Ababa Airport. This is not The Arabian Nights! The hesitancy of most of Africa towards contributing troops and the very real nature of a power vacuum tearing Somalia apart again, will be a permanent blight on the collective conscious of the AU. As Ethiopians we are glad that our boys are getting out of harms way. We only regret that they may have to return someday if Africa does not do its homework in time. For their part, Ethiopia and Ethiopians can even now claim the moral high-ground as they have shown the world a remarkable display of principles.