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Ethiopia Foreign Policy
The foreign relations of the modern Ethiopian state were
driven by the government's quest to establish this
multiethnic polity as a viable nation-state and to maintain
its territorial integrity. In many respects, then, the
foreign policy pursued by the leaders of postrevolutionary
Ethiopia was consistent with the foreign policy of the old
imperial regime. The aspect that changed from one era to the
next was Ethiopia's ideological alignment. Whereas the
regime of Emperor Haile Selassie had relied heavily on the
patronage of the United States, that of President Mengistu
Haile Mariam cast its fate with the Soviet Union. Both the
pre- and post-1974 governments used economic and military
aid from their respective superpower patrons to augment
their own meager material resources, thus enhancing the
ability of the regime to pursue not only certain foreign
policy objectives but also specific domestic policies.
Analysis of Ethiopia's foreign policy, both past and
contemporary, suggests that, rather than serving as the
pawns of one superpower or another, Ethiopia's leaders
consistently placed their perceptions of what was best for
Ethiopia before all else.
Data as of 1991
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