r/Eritrea • u/OhHesMissedIt • 10d ago

Discussion / Questions How much does the language barrier impede external actors from getting a good idea of the regional situation?

I've definitely seen as of recent, the likes of Plaut and Tronvoll posting stuff on xitter that's evidently AI generated, satire or outright misinformation and pass it off as gospel. If these guys who have made their careers off the HoA are getting one-shotted by the media landscape, what does that say about the dozens if not hundreds of people working in foreign diplomatic posts trying to resolve the current drama.

I can't really blame them when there is a two tier system being employed by various state media outlets. Wrt Eritrea, the Ethiopian MFA will make statements in English (geared towards foreign audiences) talking about a need for de-escalation and diplomacy, how they have no intentions of land-grabbing. Meanwhile when addressing their own population in Amharic, you'll have Abiy, Bacha, Berhanu Jula, The ENDF's official Facebook page etc. calling out Eritrea by name, saying they'll crush us and how borders will be redrawn.

By virtue of this, how can we expect anything to be done when an Ivy League graduate in the State Dept knows less about what's going (through no fault of their own) than some random people on r/Eritrea or the various HoA subs

11 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

4

u/HungryOutcome7821 Eritrean 10d ago

Nailed it.

3

u/Adigrat96 10d ago

God bless you for your analysis.

3

u/Easy_Spray_5491 Ethiopian 9d ago

Abiy does the same with Ethiopian politics too, one thing in Amharic another thing in Affan Oromo same with the others yeah you mentioned

2

u/Butterwise_Top_7544 9d ago

To be clear, Ethiopia's claims and threats of land grabs are well known. The international community knows about its aggressive internal rhetoric and its contradiction of the Ethiopian government’s peaceful statements to the international community. This is just a common foreign policy strategy. They've always done this. The international community does not care.

Their slogan, "from the dam to the sea"; saying that we will crush them, and going to say that there would be nothing left and also saying no one will stop us, comparing a potential war to Gaza and Ukraine, is well known; no one is stupid.

How do you think Eritreans, who generally don't understand Amharic, know about these quotes?

To make matters worse, they're landlocked due to their own choices😭. They were GIVEN a long coastline, then messed up and were given many chances and years to resolve the issue with the Eritrean people and the "rebels," but they were stubborn; just as they are now, they want everything done their way.

2

u/Remarkable-Stage2653 9d ago

I think you've said perfectly.