Recently, the airwaves, the TV channels, the magazines, newspapers, and the blogosphere has been teeming with arguments about how China was becoming the new master of Africa or how the oil rich but water starved countries of the Middle East and Asia were buying off land in what some have called the colonial style of the 21st century capitalist market order. All this action from the East and strong opposition from the West, makes you wonder what all the fuss is about.
Even a vague interest in Ethiopian history would reveal knowledge of the most destructive war ever to be waged in Ethiopian history, that of the Muslim – Christian battles during the era of Ahmed Gragn (Ahmed the left-handed in Amharic). Well, contrary to accepted belief, I would go out on a limb and argue that this was never a religious war. This was in fact, a version of the national self interest of foreign superpowers meddling in weaker states and exploiting ethnic or religious divisions to the detriment of the natives.
This summer, I travelled to two very interesting and historically rich countries, Turkey and Portugal. In Lisbon, I marveled at the Moorish Castles on the coast of the Mediterranean and the beautifully preserved churches there. Given my upbringing as an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, I had this feeling of solidarity with the Portuguese who in the 16th century, sent 400 well armed soldiers led by Christopher Da Gama (son of the famous navigator Vasco) to tip the balance of power in favor of the Christians during the Ahmed Gragn invasion. But while visiting the even more magnificent Topkapi Palace compounds of the Ottoman kings in Istanbul, (who by the way armed the invading Muslim army of Ahmed Gragn to the teeth), it occurred to me that perhaps, religious affiliation was never the motivation behind the onset of the Ahmed Gragn wars.
An avid reader of history would recognize the Ottoman Empire and the naval Portuguese state as the superpowers of the 16th century vying for supremacy and dominance on the world stage. The mid-sixteenth century was especially marked by the rivalry of these superpowers for control of the ancient trading route to Asia, which by the way just happened to pass through the Red Sea. In fact, the Ottomans, who controlled Egypt at the time, completely shut off the route to European trade with the hopes of economically choking off their rivals. This spurred the famous Da Gama trip around the Cape of Good Hope, which opened up an alternative route to Asia.
In this context, it is easy to see that the famous penultimate Ethiopian battle between Emperor Gelawdios and Ahmed Gragn was nothing but a proxy battle for the control of the all too important Red Sea trade route. In other words, this was just a form of the national interest of Portugal and the Ottoman Empire, the two superpowers of the time, playing out in Africa. In its essence, this was no different from the Ethio-Somalian wars of the 1970s, each backed by the two superpowers of the time, the U.S and the Soviet Union, this time the ideological divisions between capitalism and communism providing the immediate excuse. What we may be starting to witness in the 21st century is perhaps a new rivalry between the established Western Powers and the rapidly rising East, of course, hopefully not as bloody and destructive as the previous ones.
Coming back to Africa, one must ask what exactly the lessons of history are. The Ethiopian mistake at the time of Ahmed Gragn wars was to allow foreigners to exploit our religious differences to their benefit and our despair. Had we been able to rise up as one nation capable of looking after our own national interest then, we would have had the opportunity to play off one power against the other to exact the best deal for ourselves. The 21st century is no different. Africa, and indeed Ethiopia, is being courted by just about everyone. The E.U has its Economic Partnership Agreement on the table. The U.S has the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and may be considering further effort. The Japanese have the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD). The Chinese and Indians have had their own summits for African heads of states while the Turks and Brazilians are also starting to approach. The unstated fact is that each one of these powers has his own national interest at heart when they approach us. So should we, in all our dealing with all of them.
The 21st century approach to national self interest might be more complex but hopefully a lot less violent. While it presents the dangers of further exploitation by foreign powers, it also offers the opportunity to exact a better deal for ourselves. There’s nothing wrong with allowing foreigners to develop the vast tracts of land that lays fallow across our nations. There is absolutely no reason why we should be nervous about further Chinese or Indian investment coming into our countries. The key is to make sure that all of this is taking place according to and complimentary of our national development aspirations.
All these powers will essentially be out there to take care of their own. We’ve been around just about as long as any nation on earth, if not longer. We have even had a chance or two to play superpower at one time or another. We have just about seen it all. We should be big boys by now. We should be fine fending of for ourselves!
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