Short thread: There's "observing" as an academic and then there's being a partisan hack. When you blatantly, repeatedly and irresponsibly suggest the breakup of a nation or potential civil war, you've crossed a line. Check the wording! Most folks would be responsible to WAIT for the actual real reaction, before suggesting an escalation. Or is the goal, to provoke one? Also note, that while he complains in an article about Tigray people being conflated with the TPLF, he pairs them here.
In-depth Analysis: Towards Tigray Statehood?
https://addisstandard.com/in-depth-[deleted] ... ssion=true
I don't blame
the Standard for printing different views, but consider
Tronvoll's statement:
Tigray has all the fundamentals needed for a robust nationalist movement to take root with the ultimate objective to seek independence and sovereignty.
Check this! While having some value in analysis, our "conflict expert" is keen to focus only on Tigray's grievances while skating past his own point that Oromo, Amhara, etc. protest movements clearly show one ethnicity is not alone in demanding issues be addressed.
Nothing wrong per se with a focus on one ethnic culture, but when you relentlessly suggest imminent secession, "de facto statehood," etc., how are you using your "conflict resolution" skills to help? What kind of conflict expert PREDICTS tensions rise, instead of waiting first? If we go back to
the Standard article, note there's little to no effort to depict an alternative mindset, whether among Tigrayans who might wish to stay within Ethiopia with reforms, let alone those who may be horrified by the prospect of civil war. The game is given away by this phrasing re: military security:
All Tigrayan actors stress the need for the regional government to build sufficient capacity to deter any attack on their region.
The implication is the fed gov't and Ethiopian military are the enemy.
BBC World Service - Focus on Africa, Ethiopia’s parliament cuts ties with Tigray leaders https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w172x1gq77rlv13
So yes, I have a BIG problem with this guy. I have a big problem with "experts", who want to tip the scales. Nothing terribly alarming in his interview on this show, but why did the
BBC choose him over getting an actual PERSON FROM TIGRAY to comment? It's reasonable to ask then, what is my own agenda here? I don't really have one! Yes, I'm pro-GERD because it makes sense for Ethiopia AND the region. I am anti-killing people, whether Tigrayan, Oromo, Amhara, etc. Whether Tigray secedes one day or not is up to Tigrayans and Ethiopians, but they can decide this or not without certain Western "experts" telling them what to do or stoking resentments. This is also why, I never weigh in on the Abiy gov't or even like tweets that knock or praise it. Both academia and journalism can have POVs, but messing with perspectives and taking partisan lines of one ethnicity against others is a dangerous, irresponsible game.
(Jeff Pearce: @jeffpropulsion)