Abstract:

Like the other parts of the world, the Ethiopian region was also affected by the East-West rivalry of the Cold War Era. Both the Eastern and Western block countries believed that maintaining a strong hold in the strategically important area of the Ethiopian region and horn of Africa is a pre-requisite to safeguard their economic and political benefit. Furthermore, the two blocks aimed to stabilize governments which were pro for their respective ideologies. This helped Ethiopia to be the focal point of the United States largest economic and military assistance program and the location of largest embassy in sub-Saharan Africa. This long lived and strong U.S - Ethiopian relationship, however, was devoured by the coming to power of a Soviet backed military regime. On the other hand, the disintegration of the former USSR in the late 1980s manifested a serious blow in the overall capacity of the military regime. This finally led to the down fall of the military regime in 1991 and its replacement by the late Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). Post-Cold War Era Ethiopia, as a main foreign policy partner of the U.S, was significantly influenced by the prevailed universal paradigm that mainly featured market economy and liberal democracy. Moreover, the culmination of the Cold War and the subsequent emergence of new powers in the region such as China, India, Turkey, Brazil, Malaysia and the oil reach Gulf States led to the diversification of Ethiopian foreign policy partners.

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