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Wang Yanqing, The Evolution of the American Policy towards Ethiopia during the Cold War: A Historical Investigation on the Kagnew Station

2020-12-04

During the Cold War, forming an alliance among nations was a common international political phenomenon. The formation of the bipolar pattern prompted the United States to integrate the Horn of Africa into its strategy of the greater Middle East and choose to form a military defence alliance with Ethiopia. The Kagnew Station, as the main link, was the barometer of the relations between these two countries. The U.S. strategic needs for the Kagnew Station determined the scale and speed of military assistance to Ethiopia provided by the U.S. government. Selassie's fundamental goal was to stabilize his regime and deal with the threat from the neighbours of Ethiopia, which was considered the key chip for requiring more military assistance from the United States. With the détente of two Superpowers, the breakthrough of the satellite technology and the construction of Diego Garcia base, the role of the Kagnew Station declined rapidly, causing the U.S. Ethiopian relations to approach the verge of collapse. However, due to the large scale involvement of the Soviet Union in the Horn of Africa and the outbreak of the Ethiopian Revolution, the United States instead emphasized the geopolitical strategic significance of Ethiopia and adopted a ‘wait and see’ policy on the basis of the acceleration of the delivery of promised military assistance. In the end, the Mengistu's revolutionary regime decided to stand with the Soviet Bloc because of its ideology and urgent needs for a substantial number of weapons, and the alliance of the United States and Ethiopia broke down consequently.