Michael Rubin
Debunking Myths: Eritrea’s Journey to Self-Reliance and Sovereignty
By Hintsa Andebrhan
https://hintsa9.wordpress.com/2025/01/1 ... -politics/
Last week, I read a 950+ word essay by
Michael Rubin, who argues that the United States should support regime change in Eritrea and recommends that the Trump administration achieve this through specific policies. This perspective is both outdated and a zero-sum political game, echoing bellicose views against Eritrea that have been ringing in our ears for nearly 25 years.
It is no secret that since
Barack Obama came to power, an extremely dangerous and politically motivated strategy has been implemented to plunge the Horn of Africa into crisis. Warlords and war brokers like Michael Rubin, who were around the Obama White House, have worked tirelessly to implement this strategy.
This group orchestrates wars and devises blueprints to prolong conflicts, aiming to install their own puppets in power or destabilize states. The endless political crisis in Iraq and the failed states of Somalia, Libya, and Syria are the handiwork of these war entrepreneur elites.
The Ethio-Eritrea border war’s ‘
no war, no peace’ status was pioneered by
Jendayi Frazer, the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during
George W. Bush’s administration. Even top diplomat Ambassador
John Bolton was perplexed by Frazer’s unexpected decision. As Bolton wrote,
For reasons I have never understood, Frazer reversed course and requested in early February that the 2002 Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission decision be reopened.
The Obama administration did not develop its own policy to resolve the Ethiopia-Eritrea border conflict, but rather ignored the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission’s binding decision and continued to follow President W. Bush’s flawed strategy. As a result, Ambassador
Susan Rice, who served as the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations and the president’s national security adviser, followed the misguided path of Ambassador Jendayi Frazer.
Ambassador Susan Rice, who served as the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations and the President Barack Obama national security adviser
Ambassador Rice organized a group led by the late Ethiopian Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi that not only excluded Eritrea from the international diplomatic stage but also orchestrated a major political maneuver to bring about regime change in Eritrea.
According to
WikiLeaks, Ambassador Susan Rice advised the group to reach an agreement on a specific package of measures and counseled that the initiative would be more viable in the Council if presented as an African consensus proposal rather than one driven by Eritrea’s estranged neighbors, Ethiopia and Djibouti. Rice also urged the group to draw a link to the situation in Djibouti when drafting its proposal to sanction Eritrea.
When the ‘
sanction club’ against Eritrea, created by Ambassador Rice, realized they couldn’t find any legitimate justification for their accusations, they resorted to fabricating the
Eritrea supports Al-Shabab
narrative.
This ultimately led to the unjust sanctions imposed on Eritrea by the U.N. Security Council, in 2009.
The U.N. Security Council
The U.N. Security Council repeatedly clarified that there was no evidence of Eritrea supporting Al-Shabab. However, the unjust sanctions against Eritrea, nicknamed
Susan Rice’s middle finger to the international community,
were approved.
This is why I argue that Rubin’s recent opinion is old-fashioned and zero-sum politics criticism towards Eritrea. Michael Rubin is well known for his provocative, warlike diction, earning him the nickname ‘
war broker’ for his thunderous perspectives on the conflicts in Iraq, Libya, and Syria.
What is surprising is that the man from AEI, known for advocating war and regime change, recommended that President-elect
Trump join the warlords’ club. The world knows well, that Trump has no desire to engage in war or pursue a regime change policy.
Rubin, the author of the opinion piece, seems to have completely forgotten the legacy of Trump’s first term in resolving the Horn of Africa peace conflict, particularly his policy aimed at resolving the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict. The deployment of
Donald Yamamoto, a seasoned diplomat with extensive experience in East and Central African affairs, to facilitate the resolution of the ‘
no peace, no war’ conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea was evidence of the Trump White House’s intention to encourage peaceful resolutions in the region. Yamamoto’s mission demonstrated Trump’s sincere commitment to resolving and cleaning up the 20-year mess left by Presidents Obama and W. Bush in the Horn of Africa.
Therefore, I cannot say that President Trump has any interest in corrupting his own peace legacy in the Horn of Africa region. In fact, he made it clear that he has no appetite for starting new wars but rather aims to create policies to stop them.
Michael Rubin also tries to link Eritrea’s national service policy to a slavery system in his argument. This suggests to me that Rubin’s perspective on Eritrea is totally unrealistic, as his pen was used to criticize the Eritrean government, intentionally without any checks and balances regarding the facts of Eritrea’s self-reliance policy.
Sawa, the National Service Center of Eritrea
Eritreans did not fight for nearly a hundred years against all odds to implement the political philosophies of others or become the receptacle of certain political powers. They fought to create a free Eritrea with their own political and policy decisions. National service is one of the key policies they use to build their country.
Despite remaining under the unjust sanctions of Western powers, Eritrea has built over 900 dams, with more than 750 of them having capacities ranging from 10,000 to 330 million cubic meters of water.
The Isaias Afwerki administration rebuilt the Italian-constructed railway line from Asmara to Massawa, which had been destroyed and looted by the UK, and subsequently neglected by
Haile Selassie and
Mengistu Hailemariam of Ethiopia. Eritrea did not seek help from the West or the Global South (China and Russia) to rebuild these multi-billion Nakfa projects, instead utilizing its human capital potential and local economic resources.
Young diplomats, senior civil servants, world-class professional athletes, and cyclists like
Biniam Girmay, the first African to win three stages of the Tour de France and the green jersey, are the products of Eritrea’s national service at ‘
Sawa.’ The wings of the diaspora, known as Eritrean ambassadors, are also among the fruits of this system.
Mr. Rubin attempts to convince his readers that Eritrea is a nation without elections. However, this contradicts the facts of Eritrea’s administrative system, as the country holds administrative elections every two years. Despite this, few have the courage to discuss it, and the Eritrean government does not seek the approval of the international community, preferring to follow its own administrative system.
Indeed, the political core of Eritrea, led by President
Isaias Afwerki, remains in power to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Eritrea from any injustices committed by major world political powers. I do not expect Michael Rubin to accept this, but who cares? The dogs bark, and the caravan moves on.
I put down my pen with a piece of advice for free, to Mr. Michael Rubin:
Turn the page, embrace Trump’s MAGA politics, and join in celebrating America’s new golden era instead of clinging to outdated war rhetoric.
Hintsa Andebrhan, worked as a researcher with the United Nations Population Fund and IPAS International Ethiopia, and can reached [email protected] and @AndebrhanHintsa
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Here are three idiots who don't live our lives, don't know our culture or history, don't speak our language, and have never visited Eritrea. Still, they have many lies to say about us and undervalue the "blood, sweat, and tears" that went into our independence.
They allocated massive capital for a regime change in Eritrea; ironically, they never learned, failed many times, and swallowed back every one of their lies. Remember, Eritreans are self-reliant and never go down on their knees for any force.
@mrubin1971 @TiborPNagyJr @martinplaut
This 'idiot" has visited Eritrea and was delighted with the ambiance of Asmara. So what "lies" have I said about the Eritrean people, who I greatly respect. As opposed to the miserable Regime which shows no interest in its people's welfare, only maintaining themselves in power.
Again, please cut the crap; you don't respect the Eritrean people; what matters the most is what goes into your pocket.
Because of your lies and animosity towards PIA, Eritrea has passed years of extended excruciating experience and unlawful and unilateral sanctions of the US. The truth hurts, but you never like simple, resilient & determined, visionary, masterminded political leaders but corrupted puppets who do dirty job for you. Please stop lecturing us about PIA; we know him better than you do, and what a gift! We are glad we have him.
