“The example of how Ethiopia’s search for cohesiveness and growth reaches, of necessity, into its historical identity
Analysis. By Gregory R. Copley, Editor1, GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs. Globalist political trends in the post-Cold War period have led to the vitiation of sovereignty for most nation-states, with the inevitable whiplash reaction of societies which seek to find, and assert, their historical sense of identity. Many seek identity security, the basis of the identity politics phenomenon which is challenging globalism.
This is an example of the historical pendular action in human geopolitical history which has been evident for thousands of years. And yet, with this first real challenge to the 21st Century globalists, it is being viewed with perplexity.
It has been two decades since I wrote the book, Ethiopia Reaches Her Hand Unto God: Imperial Ethiopia’s Unique Symbols, Structures, and Rôle in the Modern World2, with the profound assistance of His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia. It is remarkable that interest in the book has grown with the years, rather than diminished. The book continues to sell.
Part of this is because we are witnessing a strong resurgence in the unique identity of Ethiopia and Ethiopians. This is not just because Ethiopia is finally recovering from the cultural devastation of the coup of 1974. It is also related to the fact that the transform-ing global social environment is forcing many people around the world to become con-scious of their core identities.
We are, as noted, entering a period globally of “identity politics”; a time when people yearn to understand why they are who they are; why they are special; and what their special relationship is with their geography. This introspection is neither accidental nor coincidental: it is a direct response to the threat felt to their identities by many people in the face of the globalism ideology which stressed the irrelevance of borders and na-tions. Bear in mind that this is quite separate from the mechanisms of the globalization of communications and trade, although these have helped foster the globalism philoso-phy, which is essentially an urban phenomenon in a world which is increasingly urbaniz-ing and increasingly materialistic….”