The lack of strong and peaceful nation and its impact in Ethiopia

Historically speaking, Ethiopia is an internally fractured society. The landloard and feudalism concepts seem to weigh heavily on the thinking of many Ethiopians.Ethiopia is made up of various communities (language groups, nationalities, etc.)Each community wants to be left alone to run its own affairs.These communities unite in two circumstances:

 a) to fight a common threat, and
 b) when these different communities are united under a powerful force (domestic or foreign).

Each community has a name to identify itself with. If and when the elite of one community succeeds to forcefully combine some or all of the communities and establishes a state, that state is identified as Ethiopia. Power struggle has so far been violent, bloody, and deadly.
Peaceful transition of power has yet to be a norm.That constant and violent struggle for power makes the competitors seek for help from outside and that action invites foreign forces to interfere and influence who comes to power or stays in power.

Ethiopian elites, once in power, tend to stay in power for decades and in the process alienate other communities. They become obstacles to building a modern Ethiopian nation because they continue ethnic/nationality differences by seemingly serving the interests of a single ethnic group( and buy off individuals from other groups) rather than pursuing the interests of Ethiopia as a whole.

Territorially, modern Ethiopia took its current shape during the reign of Emperor Menilik II. Ethio-Eritrea federation was the primary reason for the introduction of parliamentary elections to Ethiopia. Ethiopian political development has been in constant influx eversince. All those who ruled Ethiopia since then depended heavily on the backing of foreign powers. Emperor Haile Selassie depended on USA and Israeli alliance.Israel has foiled six coups (including the one that was led by Mengistu Neway and Girmame Neway) and trained anti-Eritrea commandoes to protect the emperor's regime. Colonel Mengistu heavily depended on the USSR and its sattelites as well as the non-antagonistic attitudes of the USA and Israel. And now, Prime Minister Meles and the Tigrai People's Liberation Front almost totally rely on the assistance of the USA and Israel.This became obvious after the 2005 elections when the USA sided with Meles instead of the victims(i.e. the murdered peaceful demonstrators, detained elected officials, and the Constitution).

Without foreign help the current regime would be hard-pressed to stay in power any longer.
Therefore, building a united modern nation in Ethiopia is a right objective. The issue is nation-building, and needs to be done by the willful cooperation of the various Ethiopian communities. They have to want to build a nation. How is that going to be done? Generally, negotiations. Simple democratic elections are not going to be the answer. It is more than elections. But different options need to be considered. Another important factor is the role of opposition parties as change agents.

The most glaring weakness of the Ethiopian opposition parties is their feudal mentality. Their greatest common factor has so far been their failure to cooperate and form genuine working coalitions. Each wants others to work only according to its proposals. They renege on their agreements. Party leaders could not overcome the temptations of giving primacy to their immediate personal or group intersts, instead of the nation's interests. There is often lack of democracy inside each party in electing leaders or making important decisions. There is also no mechanism of resolving internal conflicts if they arise. The result is infighting, pitched power struggles, splits, divisions, and further disintegration.That is a big cause for setbacks.

Some solutions: have political study groups, train party members in areas of political education, mobilizing and organizing people, leadership, anger management, conflict resolution and negotiations to achieve common goals. These are not all natural qualities. They could be learned. And above all there must be a desire to solve the problems of your community.

Remember, democracy cannot be imposed from outside. Democracy is a means of organizing people make decisions and work separately or together for making their lives better. Keep you focus on making the lives of the Ethiopian people better.