Tag: Isaias Afwerki
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How Eritrea Became a One‑Party State: An Autopsy
Eritrea politics, Eritrean authoritarianism, PFDJ, Isaias Afwerki, EPLF legacy, one-party state, African politics, liberation movements, conflict economies, human rights Eritrea, militarization, nationalism, political sociology, authoritarian regimes, East African politics, diaspora politics, political reform, democracy movement, Eritrean governance, totalitarian systems, state control, political analysis, regime survival, civic space, national unity, political polarization, post-independence Africa, governance failure,…
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From center to periphery: Eritrea’s forced disengagement from Ethiopia
Disparate notes on the long and short history of Eritrea Introduction: A great deal is being said and written about Ethiopia’s loud claim of access to the Red Sea. Ever since 2024, the Ethiopian prime minister has on numerous occasions warned his neighboring seacoast countries, namely Eritrea and Somalia, that they ought to allow Ethiopia…
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Deposit Your Money or Else: Eritrea’s Banking Ultimatum
Eritrea’s latest directive orders citizens and businesses to deposit cash into banks by July 31 or face legal action. This analysis examines the official notice, its implications, and what it reveals about state control, banking policy, and citizens’ rights.
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The Gettysburg Lesson Eritrea Never Learned
What separates genuine leadership from the exploitation of sacrifice? Using Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address as a historical reference point, this essay examines the moral power of leadership during times of national crisis and contrasts it with Eritrea’s post-independence experience. It explores freedom, citizenship, remembrance, national unity, and the responsibility owed to those who sacrificed their…
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From Geneva to the Present: The Long Arc of International Scrutiny on Eritrea
When Eritrea appeared before the United Nations Human Rights Council for its first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in November 2009, the atmosphere in Geneva carried a charged mixture of anticipation, unease, and unmistakable excitement. For many of us in the Eritrean civil society delegation—supported by the Norwegian Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF)—it was the first…
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Dr. Kebire, The Man We Called Uncle Camera
Last week, we lost an exemplary and peaceful person endowed with a kind heart and a beautiful soul. He was reconciled with all that life gives and takes, both from himself and from others. He lived a spiritually and physically content life. But like every creature, his time was up, and after a long struggle…
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Eritrea at 35: A Regime Out of Words, Out of Time
A sharp, uncompromising critique of Eritrea’s 35th anniversary narrative, exposing the regime’s empty propaganda, extractive elite, and decades of national stagnation while calling for a new political imagination beyond Isaias Afwerki and the PFDJ.
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Archived Interview With Mohamed Taha Tewekel
Introduction The following interview with Mohamed Taha Tewekel was originally published by Awate.com on Sep 12, 2003, at a time when Eritrean politics, regional alliances, and opposition movements were evolving rapidly. The interview captures Tewekel’s recollections, political assessments, and personal experiences as they were expressed at the time. It reflects the atmosphere, assumptions, debates, and…
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From the White House to the Stonehouse
I used to meet an animated, patriotic girl at a neighbor’s house where we gathered on weekends and special occasions. In 1985, just a few days after the September 1 celebrations, we were chatting over coffee. She was nice; only she inserted “Gedli” (struggle) into almost every other sentence she uttered. I teasingly called her…
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Eritrea Celebrates — but Its President Is Somewhere Else
I. A Preface of Reluctance and Recognition For more than two decades, I avoided President Isaias Afwerki’s speeches. They were predictable, monotonous, and devoid of substance — exercises in tedium that tested the limits of my patience. His demeanor, too, has always unsettled me: the way he talks, the way he walks, the way he…
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Reengaging Eritrea: A Path Beyond the Stalemate
Michael Rubin has written about Eritrea for many years, and in a region that often flickers in and out of the world’s attention, that consistency deserves acknowledgment. Whatever disagreements I may have with his conclusions, I do not question the sincerity of his desire to see an Eritrea that is democratic, free, and just. Many…
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Why U.S.–Eritrea Normalization Keeps Failing
A New Opening in a Dangerous Red Sea Moment Washington is once again testing the possibility of normalizing relations with Eritrea. According to The Wall Street Journal and Semafor, President Isaias Afwerki has held quiet, Egypt‑brokered talks with Massad Boulos, the U.S. president’s senior Africa envoy. The discussions reportedly include easing sanctions and resetting diplomatic…
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Peekaboo: The Ethio–Eritrean Game
The current cycle of this familiar political game began in 2018, when Abiy Ahmed traveled to Asmara to meet Isaias Afwerki. The visit was presented as historic—a turning point not just for two states, but for two peoples long defined by conflict. Yet from the outset, the encounter carried a tone that was more personal…
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Protocol, Power, Policy, and the Urgent Need for Institutions
I. A Visit That Reveals More Than It Intended Eritreans have long relied on Awate’s Regional News link to follow developments across the Horn of Africa, a region where every diplomatic gesture carries weight. This week, one story in particular demanded attention: the visit of Eritrea’s minister of trade and industry, Nasreddin Saleh, accompanied by…
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The Elephant in the Room
I. The Meteor We Pretend Fell From the Sky There is a comforting story circulating in Eritrean political discourse – a story repeated so often, and with such ritualistic conviction, that it has become less an argument than a reflex. It tells us that the dictatorship is an alien force, a meteor that crashed into…
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The Day After: Preparing Eritrea for its Most Dangerous Transition
There comes a moment in the life of every nation when denial becomes a luxury it can no longer afford. Eritrea is approaching such a moment. Tick‑tock. The eventual death of President Isaias Afwerki—whether tomorrow or years from now—is not a political prediction but an unavoidable biological certainty. What follows will determine whether Eritrea survives…
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The Normalization of Self-Censorship in Eritrea
When self-censorship becomes pervasive, a society forfeits more than the right to open dissent; it forfeits the very conditions that make common knowledge possible – the shared awareness of what others know, think, and believe. In such an atmosphere, individuals can no longer reliably gauge the convictions of their peers or distinguish private doubt from…
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Trust Over Terror: Unity Built on a Minimum Agenda
Accra, Ghana. The very air here reminds me of what could have been for Eritrea. In the early 1990s, two nations stood at a crossroads. Ghana chose democracy, and today it stands as West Africa’s most stable and consolidated democracy. Eritrea, tragically, chose tyranny and has become a cautionary tale of what is broken in…
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The Eritrean Opposition Must Renounce Violence — Or Remain Irrelevant
The Eritrean opposition in the diaspora faces a credibility crisis so deep that it has become politically paralyzed by it. For more than three decades, it has positioned itself as the alternative to Isaias Afwerki’s rule. Yet inside Eritrea, even citizens who are profoundly dissatisfied with the government remain unconvinced that an opposition‑led transition would…
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Nehnan Elamanan: The Mother of the PFDJ
Isaias Afwerki’s Nehnan Elamanan manifesto transformed internal grievances into ideological justification for political separation and eventual monopoly power.