The Dead Now Require Airplane Tickets
A Tigrayit song, exile, and the geography of remembrance. The song found me on an ordinary evening. Outside my…
Dr. Sadia Hassanen5 min read
Nothing here yet.
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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…
Saleh "Gadi" Johar10 min read
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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.…
Semere T Habtemariam11 min read
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How the Pledged Public Works
A Second Explanation for Readers Who Want the Mechanism, Not Just the Idea The public is not the…
Dr. Filmon Wolde17 min read
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Egypt, Eritrea, and the New Geometry of the Red Sea
Egypt’s and Eritrea’s new maritime transport agreement is not a routine economic gesture. It is a political marker—and…
Semere T Habtemariam10 min read
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The Hewett Treaty and the Road to Adwa
This is a two-part story about Gerald Portal’s delegation to King Yohannes IV, based on Portal’s own book…
Saleh "Gadi" Johar6 min read
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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…
Semere T Habtemariam8 min read
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The Pledged Public: Toward an answer to “The Grammar of Promise”
“The problem is not to find the best ruler. The problem is to make it impossible for a…
Dr. Filmon Wolde24 min read
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Renewing Awate Without Losing Its Soul
Awate.com is back—with a cleaner, faster, and less intrusive experience after the removal of the excessive pop-ups and…
Saleh "Gadi" Johar6 min read
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Eritrean Refugees and the Burden of Visibility
Eritrean refugees are a demographic minority in Africa’s displacement map, yet they occupy an outsized space in the…
Semere T Habtemariam9 min read
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The Grammar of Promise: How Eritrean Political Thought Became Trapped Inside Its Own Logic
“The most dangerous moment for a bad government is when it begins to reform.” – Alexis de Tocqueville…
Dr. Filmon Wolde18 min read
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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…
Semere T Habtemariam7 min read
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ተጋዳላይ ከመዓልካ (ዶ-በረኸት ሃብተስላሴ)
ተጋዳላይ ከመዓልካ ጅግና ተጋዳላይ ሰላም ዶ ክብለካ? መንፈሰይ ይሕደስ ወርትግ ክሓስበካ ናይ ሓርነት ጸዳል ዘብርህ ግንባርካ ኣኽራን ዝቐስቀሰ…
Dr. Bereket Habte Selassie2 min read
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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…
Saleh "Gadi" Johar8 min read
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The Wound and the Cure: How Nehnan Elamanan Damaged Eritrea’s National Unity — and What a Truthful Manifesto Could Have Built Instead
Introduction: The Shadow of a Document There are moments in a nation’s history when a single document bends…
Semere T Habtemariam8 min read
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PM Abiy, Teddy Afro, and the Politics of Art
For the past few days, Teddy Afro’s new album has drawn wide attention. A friend told me its…
Saleh "Gadi" Johar6 min read
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Eritrea’s Ghost Bureaucracy
1. Hidden Bias Eritrean political life is often narrated through the familiar vocabulary of dictatorship, militarization, and repression,…
Younis Omer (Ali Salim)10 min read
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The Anatomy of State Failure in Eritrea
I. The Origins of Authority States do not fail in a single dramatic moment. They unravel slowly, beginning…
Younis Omer (Ali Salim)11 min read
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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…
Semere T Habtemariam5 min read
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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…
Younis Omer (Ali Salim)10 min read
