Abiy Ahmed’s repeated appearance—real or symbolic—in drone displays over Addis Ababa reflects a mix of calculated political signaling and personal image cultivation. Here are some reasons he might do this obsessively, and how each can be interpreted critically:
1. Projection of Technological Power
Why: To show Ethiopia as modern, militarily advanced, and self-reliant.
Critique: In a country facing hunger, inflation, and ethnic strife, flaunting drones in the sky can feel disconnected or threatening, especially if those drones have been used in internal conflicts.
2. Cultivation of a Strongman Persona
Why: Leaders under pressure often craft images of invincibility. Drone formations featuring his image or initials project dominance and command.
Critique: This flirts with authoritarian aesthetics. It echoes propaganda tactics of autocrats who seek loyalty through spectacle rather than substance.
3. Distraction from Domestic Crises
Why: Dazzling public displays shift attention from economic hardship, political instability, or war crimes accusations.
Critique: Such distractions often backfire when people’s daily suffering contrasts starkly with elite theatrics in the sky.
4. Vanity and Personal Legacy
Why: Abiy may want to immortalize himself as a visionary reformer or savior of Ethiopia.
Critique: Nation-building should be about institutions, justice, and service—not projecting one's face or initials into the sky.
5. Control of National Narrative
Why: In a divided country, dominating visual and symbolic space helps frame the story: “I am the future.”
Critique: This narrative erases dissent and silences those left out of the “vision.” It alienates regions and voices that see drones as instruments of fear, not pride.
Comparison with other dictators:
1. Vladimir Putin (Russia)
Tactics: Military parades, air shows, weapon unveilings, hyper-nationalist media campaigns.
Purpose: Project military strength, rally nationalism, and mask domestic dissent.
Comparison to Abiy: Like Abiy, Putin uses high-tech displays to reassert power domestically and internationally—even as real social issues persist.
2. Kim Jong-un (North Korea)
Tactics: Giant military parades, missile launches, choreographed spectacles.
Purpose: Project regime strength, maintain control through fear and awe.
Comparison: Abiy's drone spectacles echo this use of coordinated technological might, though far less extreme.
3. Saddam Hussein (Iraq)
Tactics: Monuments, gold-plated palaces, constant self-promotion, military pageantry.
Purpose: Build a cult of personality, suppress dissent through intimidation and grandeur.
Comparison: Abiy’s increasing personalization of national symbolism shares some traits, especially around controlling the image of “the savior leader.”
4. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Turkey)
Tactics: Massive infrastructure projects, media control, patriotic drone and jet displays.
Purpose: Assert neo-Ottoman power, distract from economic decline, rally conservative base.
Comparison: Erdoğan and Abiy both lean on spectacle to shape legacy and appeal to national pride—while critics accuse them of centralizing power dangerously.
5. Benito Mussolini (Italy)
Tactics: Military pageants, rallies, architecture glorifying fascism, omnipresent leader imagery.
Purpose: Create the myth of the “new Roman empire” and the man who would deliver it.
Comparison: The ambition to reshape the nation through highly visible personal leadership parallels Abiy’s attempts to craft a “new Ethiopia” under his name.