Mekhete saved Tigray. Now it must evolve to achieve what survival alone cannot: the return of the displaced, the restoration of occupied territories, justice for genocide, and the recovery of Tigray’s full national rights. Recent exchanges in Ethiopian political and parliamentary discourse have once again illustrated something that many Tigrayan observers like me have been tracking for some time. The contest over Tigray’s future is no longer confined to the battlefield. Military pressure is accompanied by political maneuvering, information campaigns, constitutional and legal contestation, institutional disruption, economic conditioning, international messaging, and sustained efforts to shape how Tigray is perceived — both domestically and abroad. Whether one agrees with every characterization…

The question is not whether Tigray should be flexible. The question is: flexible about what, under what conditions, and in whose strategic interest? When the United States announced visa restrictions on what it called “hardline members of the TPLF,” I decided to wait before responding. Not because I had no views. But because within hours of the announcement, every camp had already determined what it meant. Those who had been critical of TPLF found confirmation. Those defending TPLF found vindication. The announcement was absorbed almost instantly into positions that were already fixed. Very few seemed interested in slowing down long enough to read what the statement actually said, or to…

The most important political question facing Tigray today is not who should lead us next. It is whether we have built a society capable of continuously producing people worthy of leading us at all. On the night of November 4, 2021, police came to my house in Addis Ababa at around nine o’clock. Seven of them. Two secret service agents and five uniformed police with a driver. I had seen them coming. I had a few seconds to change the television channel from Tigray media to CNN, hide my smartphone, and walk back to open the gate as if nothing was happening. They rushed in. They searched every room. They…

Why Tigray Must Think More Carefully About Political Renewal Politics is often consumed by events. History is shaped by institutions. At a time when political developments in and around Tigray are moving quickly, this may seem an unusual moment to write about political organization rather than current events. That choice is deliberate. Events will continue to unfold, and there will be time to analyze them as the picture becomes clearer. What cannot wait is a deeper conversation about the institutions that will determine whether Tigray succeeds regardless of how the current moment resolves. It is in that spirit that I offer the reflections that follow. It has been some time…

Before Tigray decides what it owes Ethiopia, it must decide what it owes itself. There is a case for putting Ethiopia first. It is not a weak case. It deserves to be stated honestly before it is examined. Ethiopia remains Tigray’s largest market. It remains the framework within which Tigray’s trade, its infrastructure, its financial relationships, and its administrative connections operate. Ethiopia remains the diplomatic shield within which Tigray’s demands for Pretoria implementation have some international standing. Ethiopia remains the state recognized by the international system, whose collapse or fracture would create security vacuums and regional instabilities that Tigray, landlocked and still recovering from war, cannot easily manage. All of…

This is probably the longest article I have published in a very long time. I hesitated before writing it, and I hesitated again before publishing it. Not because the subject is unimportant, but because it touches one of the most sensitive debates in Tigrayan political life today. I am not asking anyone to agree with me. I am only asking for the patience to read the argument in full before judging it. Many of the questions raised in this article have been sitting in my mind for months. This was my attempt to think through them honestly and openly. If you find value in it, discuss it with friends. If…

For decades, Egypt sought to manage the Nile equation through Ethiopia and Eritrea. The actor that repeatedly altered regional outcomes was neither — it was Tigray’s organized political capacity. The lesson is not about Egypt. It is about Tigray. If Tigrayans fail to understand their own strategic weight, others will continue to calculate it more clearly than they do themselves. Recent discussions in Ethiopian political media have returned repeatedly to the language of “historical enemies,” foreign agendas, and external alignments. The message is familiar: Tigray must be isolated from regional actors because any strategic relationship beyond Addis Ababa represents a threat to Ethiopia. The louder this narrative becomes, the more…

Tigray has emerged from its most dangerous internal test more consolidated than many expected. The task now is not merely to preserve that consolidation, but to convert it into diplomatic strength: entering every room with one clear message, one clear objective, and the discipline to distinguish restoration from adjustment to loss. Tigray has spent the past months passing through one of the most difficult political tests of the post-Pretoria period. The attempt to make Tigray’s disagreements harden into fracture did not succeed. The attempt to normalize a reduced Tigray has not won majority acceptance. Beneath the noise, Tigray has shown the enduring weight of a society that still knows what…

Tigray’s trauma has amplified its disagreements so deeply that many Tigrayans now struggle to recognize how much shared ground still remains. The task is to recover that ground, organize it, and turn friction into cohesion before others turn it into fracture. እዚ ፅሑፍ፡ ናይ ድሕረ-ፕሪቶሪያ ትግራይ ፖለቲካዊ ምስሊ ብቐሊሉ ኣብ መንጎ “ደለይቲ ሰላም”ን “ደለይቲ ኲናት”ን ወይ ኣብ መንጎ “ደገፍቲ ፕሪቶሪያ”ን “ተቓወምቲ ፕሪቶሪያ”ን ዝተመቐለ ጥራይ ከምዘይኮነ ይከራኸር። እቲ ናይ ሓቂ ጸገም፡ ዝተፈላለዩ ወገናት ተመሳሳሊ ቃላት እናተጠቐሙ — “ሰላም”፡ “ፕሪቶሪያ”፡ “ህልውና” — ናብ ዝተፈላለየን ዘይሰማማዕን ፖለቲካዊ ውፅኢት የምርሑ ምህላዎም እዩ። ንመብዛሕትኦም ተጋሩ፡ ፕሪቶሪያ ማለት ምምላስን ዳግማይ ምትካልን ክኸውን ኣለዎ፤ ምምላስ ተመዛበልቲ፣ ምውፃእ ወረርቲ ሓይልታት፣ ሕገ-መንግስታዊ ስርዓት ምርግጋፅን ንመፃኢ ካብ ዝመፅእ ስግኣት ዘተኣማምን…

Obasanjo’s re-engagement will have meaning only if it moves Pretoria from process to enforceable chronology. But that will happen only if Tigray enters the room with sharper demands, documented positions, and a second track that does not depend on the goodwill of those who benefit from delay. Obasanjo’s arrival in Mekelle comes at a consequential moment. It follows Ethiopia’s June 1 election, years of incomplete Pretoria implementation, and the reconstitution of Tigray’s political authority. Had this visit occurred before June 1, it would have meant something different. It would have arrived at a moment when international pressure on Abiy Ahmed still carried an electoral cost, when his need for legitimacy…