Tessema Mebratu

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

@Unlimited_BU @KonstantinKisin They were simply following their own money robbed by the robbers.

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

My first piece on world politics, published in The Reporter newspaper. Enjoy reading! It Is Official: The Old World Order Is Dead https://t.co/p81VSd1dxJ via @The Reporter Ethiopia

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

@SeifGebre @marcorubio @SenateForeign @hrw @amnesty Many agree that the biggest tragedy for the people of Tigray is that TPLF repeatedly drags the region into devastating conflicts.

The people of Tigray deserve peace, stability, and development—not to be used again as the battlefield for political ambitions.

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

@SeifGebre @marcorubio @SenateForeign @hrw @amnesty Facts: The first war began when TPLF attacked the ENDF . Eritrea joined later.

Also, concern about war only when the battlefield might be Tigray is selective. War anywhere—Tigray, Eritrea, or elsewhere in Ethiopia—is a tragedy.

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

@georgegalloway @ grok is this true?

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

@emuti1222 ማን ላይ ነበር መጮህ ያለበት? ቤት ኪራዩን ያስወደደው ማን ነው? አህያውን ፈርቶ ዳውላውን ሆነብኝ ለማለት ነው። አከራዩስ እየሞከረ ያለው ለልጆቹ የትምህርት ቤት ለመክፈል ቢሆንስ? ምን ሊከፍል ይሆን ? እሱስ ማን ላይ ይጩህ?

[Habtamu Nini Abino @abino11]

Boeing Diplomacy vs. Busheftu Symbolism: Ethiopia’s Missed Strategic Signal to Washington

In global politics, symbolism is not decoration—it is strategy. What leaders choose to show, whom they choose to impress, and which assets they highlight are all part of diplomacy’s unspoken language. That is why Egypt’s decision to escort President Donald J. Trump’s Air Force One with U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets was not a military gesture—it was a psychological one. It was aircraft diplomacy: a visual message of alignment, industrial loyalty, and strategic familiarity. Trump understood it immediately. He praised the jets not as weapons, but as American products. Transactional politics met symbolic intelligence.

Ethiopia, however, made the opposite move.

When Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed invited the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State to Ethiopia and took the delegation to the Ethiopian Air Force base in Bishoftu—home to fighter jets sourced from Russia, China, and non-U.S. suppliers—the message was strategically incoherent. It was not partnership signaling. It was not alignment. It was not leverage. It was symbolic confusion.

The United States does not need Ethiopia’s air force. The U.S. already operates from Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, maintains global airbases, and dominates airspace logistics worldwide. Showing Russian and Chinese fighter jets to American diplomats during sensitive GERD negotiations is diplomatically meaningless—and strategically counterproductive.

If Trump’s foreign policy logic is transactional—and it is—then Abiy’s approach misunderstood the transaction.

Power politics today is not driven by sentiment, history, or moral appeals. It is driven by interests, markets, contracts, and industrial ecosystems. This is where Ethiopia missed a critical opportunity.

Ethiopia is one of Boeing’s largest African customers. Ethiopian Airlines is not just a national carrier—it is a continental aviation hub, a logistics powerhouse, and a strategic market anchor. Ethiopia has already purchased multiple Boeing aircraft, placed new orders, and created long-term demand pipelines. Boeing itself has pledged financing for the new Bishoftu airport project, recognizing Ethiopia as a future aviation center for Africa.

This is where real leverage exists.

Not in fighter jets. Not in military symbolism. Not in Cold War hardware. But in commercial aviation, industrial partnership, and market expansion.

This is what could be called “Boeing diplomacy.”

Instead of showcasing Russian-made fighter jets, Abiy Ahmed should have taken the U.S. delegation to:

Bole International Airport

The new airport construction site

Ethiopian Airlines facilities

Aviation training centers

Logistics and cargo hubs

The message should have been clear: Ethiopia is not a military client. Ethiopia is not a security dependency. Ethiopia is a market partner.

“Your companies grow here.” “Your industries expand here.” “Your supply chains benefit here.” “Your aviation sector gains new long-term markets here.”

That is how transactional diplomacy works.

Trump responds to:

Jobs

Contracts

Markets

Industrial dominance

Strategic commercial advantage

Not moral arguments. Not historical claims. Not symbolic military tours.

Inviting U.S. diplomats to view Russian jets while discussing GERD is like trying to sell American influence through non-American assets. It sends mixed signals: wrong optics, wrong leverage, wrong language.

Diplomacy is not about what impresses domestically—it is about what influences externally.

Ethiopia’s strategic error is thinking geopolitics is about prestige displays. It is not. It is about economic ecosystems.

The real currency of influence is not fighter aircraft—it is market integration. Not military hardware—but industrial dependency. Not bases—but business networks.1/3
@US_SrAdvisorAF
@USEMBASSYADDIS
@AmbNebiyuTedla
@KiyaEthiopia
@KiyaEthiopia
@Habtishgreat

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

@HoehneVirgil So, Abyssinia was not landlocked, according to you?

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

@A_M_R_M1 Grok is this true? When?

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

My opinion piece on The Reporter:

What Genocide Really Means — And Why We Must Use the Term Carefully https://t.co/9s5yjWTKtw via @The Reporter Ethiopia

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

@GaltconMikias @Jawar_Mohammed Yes, that time is gone because of EPRDF itself not because of the Qero and Amhara movement . It is the EPRDF who created the condition for the birth of the Qero-Amhara movement.

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

@yebeyene “And Saudi Arabia?!” 😀😀. You fool! It is not an insult for you to ask Saudi Arabia to decide where the AU headquarter should be !? Once colonized always colonized.

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

Transitional Justice in Ethiopia: Imperfect, Unfamiliar — But Absolutely Necessary https://t.co/Z1ed4dqH9p via @The Reporter Ethiopia

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

@safehavenmoney @jonatanpallesen If you leave Africans alone to sell their resources in their own terms and you stop destabilizing their country , no one will come to your country. Rather, I suspect the migration route will be reversed. Things are changing thanks to China and I think you will learn this soon.

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

@ematewil @ConnectiveStrat @martinplaut Says the grand hotel with a $ sign? At least she has a name.

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

@SirakBahlbi Do you know that, Arkebe played a leading role in the TPLF forces and fought alongside Eritrean forces against the Ethiopian army during the Derg regime, helping prevent their elimination? So what do you expect? In my view, he will one day be actable for seeking Asab.

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

@piersmorgan Keep calm and make money! That is who you are and I still watch you.

[Tessema Mebratu @tessmeb]

@SheabiaForever @reda_getachew Foolish! Read it carefully. He has acknowledged all those who contributed which includes King Haile Sellassie who commissioned the study, Meles for starting the dam, Abiy for completing and the rest of Ethiopians including the diaspora for chip in there hard earned money.

[Getachew K Reda @reda_getachew]

The Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has, after fifteen years of ups and downs, been officially inaugurated- a milestone not only for Ethiopia but equally important, for the Nile basin countries & the region at large. Whatever the misgivings of the lower riparian countries on account of whatever apparent threat the Dam poses to their ‘water security’-real or perceived- it behooves all stakeholders to come to terms with fact that the GERD is a fait a compli that should very well be considered an opportunity for cooperation and mutual benefit, not a source of confrontation. Failing to recognize this would be a disservice to the notion of fair play and justice in the use of shared natural resources.

Here in Ethiopia, whatever political persuasion we may subscribe to, the completion of the Dam is a monumental success that all who believed in challenging received wisdom to chart a new path to the country and beyond could take pride in.

Congratulations is in order to all who gave their all to make sure the Dam see the light of day after centuries of false starts and hollow declarations often used as a rhetorical pushback against the unbridled sense of entitlement that Egypt had long maintained. Today’s inauguration in no small measure represents the dawn of a new era in the realm of diplomacy in our part of the world. Now that the GERD has indeed become a reality, all riparian states- lower or upper- might as well resolve to work together to make the best out of it.

[Webuild @Webuild_Group]

💧🇪🇹 #GERD is the largest dam in Africa and one of the ten largest in the world, representing one of the cornerstones of Ethiopia’s national energy strategy.

The project is a complex infrastructural system that, by harnessing the waters of the Blue Nile, achieves an installed capacity of 5,150 MW, equivalent to three medium-sized nuclear power plants.

Discover all the numbers of a record-breaking project!👇

#Webuild #WebuildGroup #GrandEthiopianRenaissanceDam #Ethiopia #Africa #CleanHydroEnergy #Hydro