Opinion & Analysis
A Reckless Fantasy Threatening Regional Stability and International Law
Shabait Staff
https://shabait.com/2025/09/10/a-reckle ... ional-law/
Sep 10, 2025
In recent weeks and months, the ruling Prosperity Party (PP) and its political and military officials have entered an overdrive mode, enveloped in fanfare designed to “
normalize” their delusional and reckless pursuit of what they refer to as
sovereign access to the sea.
This narrative, aggressively promoted through an assortment of speeches, ceremonies, and media campaigns, seeks to cast an unlawful, destabilizing, and misguided agenda as a legitimate national aspiration. Yet beneath the spectacle lies a toxic combination of historical revisionism, economic fragility, and deliberate political distraction that threatens not only Ethiopia’s stability but also the wider region.
PP officials have gone to great lengths to portray this maritime ambition, as both natural and inevitable. Through carefully choreographed rallies, official statements, and amplified media coverage, they attempt to dress up a reckless geopolitical gamble as a rational national policy. The aim is clear: to normalize what is in fact a dangerous delusion, to make the extraordinary sound ordinary, and to condition both domestic and international audiences into viewing unlawful territorial claims as legitimate statecraft.
To strengthen their narrative, PP leaders have even begun harking back to one of the darkest chapters in the modern history of the region: the period of annexation. By alluding to and lionizing this unlawful and abominable past, they not only distort history but also trample on the principles of sovereignty and international law that underpin regional stability today. This deliberate glorification of annexation is nothing short of political blasphemy – a red line that must not be contemplated, let alone crossed. It signals an alarming willingness to legitimize aggression as policy, with grave implications for both Ethiopia and its neighbours.
What makes PP’s adventurist posture even more alarming, is the stark contrast between its external rhetoric and Ethiopia’s internal realities. The government presides over a fragile economy that it requires intermittent injections of emergency financing from the IMF, the World Bank, and a patchwork of bilateral donors just to stay afloat. Inflation is soaring – among the highest in the world according to independent estimates. Official figures, however, present a starkly different picture, highlighting the government’s credibility gap. At the same time, multiple internal conflicts continue to rage across the country, exacting heavy tolls in lives lost, communities displaced, and property destroyed.
However, rather than focusing on and addressing these pressing crises, PP chooses to dangle the toxic promise of
sovereign access to the sea,
a distraction that diverts attention and resources from the urgent task of national recovery and reconciliation.
Diversionary theory of war highlights how unpopular leaders manufacture crises abroad, or demonize others, to distract from discontent at home and galvanize support through a
rally round the flag
effect.
PP’s behaviour fits this model with striking precision: when domestic legitimacy falters, external threats and manufactured ambitions are invoked as substitutes for genuine leadership.
True to this diversionary playbook, PP officials have indulged in elaborate exercises of gaslighting. They host high-profile summits on climate change, Afro-Caribbean cooperation, and other grand causes designed to project Ethiopia as a responsible global actor. These spectacles, however, mask rather than resolve the country’s mounting domestic crises. By diverting attention toward grandiose international posturing, the regime seeks to deceive both domestic and international constituencies – claiming moral leadership abroad while neglecting the urgent imperative of peace, stability, and justice at home as well as the wider region.
To set the record straight, Eritrea is not opposed to cooperation with its neighbours. On the contrary, Eritrea has consistently promoted agreements rooted in international law, negotiated with transparency and implemented through appropriate modalities. Genuine cooperation, however, cannot be built on unilateral adventurism or revisionist claims; it requires mutual respect, legal clarity, and a shared commitment to stability.
The dangers of Ethiopia’s strategy extend far beyond its borders. Revisionist claims and reckless rhetoric risk destabilizing an already fragile region, inflaming mistrust, and undermining prospects for cooperation. Ethiopia’s neighbours, already wary of its erratic policies, cannot be expected to accommodate unlawful ambitions without consequence.
These dangerous and irresponsible threats against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Eritrea violate the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the Charter of the United Nations, and cardinal principles of international law. To legitimize or even tolerate such rhetoric would not only undermine Eritrea’s sovereign rights, but also weaken the very framework the international community relies on to prevent conflict.
In the end, PP’s toxic agenda of securing
sovereign access to the sea
is both reckless and unsustainable.
It represents a dangerous mix of historical distortion, economic irresponsibility, and deliberate misdirection. Ethiopia’s leaders would do far better to confront their domestic crises head-on – by ending internal conflicts, rebuilding a shattered economy, and restoring public trust – than to gamble with regional peace for the sake of political survival. For the sake of Ethiopia and the region, this reckless fantasy must be rejected in favour of legality, stability, and common sense.
Eritrean — History Proves It. No Myths. No Debate.
“Facts are stubborn things; they do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” – Thomas Huxley
:
Eritreans know war better than most — but no one desires peace more than us.
We trust history, law, and readiness — not 4-Kilo fabrications.
We don’t just wish for peace — we guarantee it with strength, discipline, and clarity.
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