The level of imbecility the Abiy government displays is astounding. It wages war in more than 65% of Ethiopian territories. With no apparent benefit to Ethiopia except international ridicule, it has declared a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland to secure a port, thereby giving Ethiopia's enemies a cause to coordinate their efforts around the clock. While Abiy wages war against his own people, wasting the country’s meager resources and weakening the army by using it against law-abiding citizens, he has opened the door wide for our enemies to threaten us.
Had Abiy taken the time to strengthen the unity of Ethiopia from within—rather than inserting himself into sacred religious institutions and engaging in wholesale social engineering by uprooting Ethiopians based on their identity—Ethiopia’s enemies would not even dare to try, let alone openly threaten us militarily. The only viable option for Abiy now is to initiate genuine national negotiations to pacify the country, rather than relying on the half cooked and wicked and ineffective convince-and-confuse strategy he has employed so far.
He must issue a clear ultimatum to Somalia, stating that if Egypt attempts to establish a military base, Ethiopia will take preemptive action to protect its national interests, and he must be prepared to back it up with decisive action. The so-called "Press Statement on the Current Situation in the Horn of Africa" lacks the necessary leverage—either stick or carrot—to influence the behavior of Somalia or Egypt. Unifying the people of Ethiopia is crucial, as our ancestors did to defeat the same enemies before.