Sam and Rudy join Ian Scott Horst, author of Like Ho Chi Minh! Like Che Guevara! The Revolutionary Left in Ethiopia, 1969–1979 (Foreign Languages Press) for a discussion on the 1974 revolution in Ethiopia and the relationship to the Ethiopian present, as well as what we can learn and apply from it for today’s world. We talk about the questions of Eritrean and Ethiopian nationalism, the role of the military in a revolution, the student movements in Ethiopia and their role, with a comparison to the current young US left, definitions of fascism, the role of the USSR & Cuba in propping up the Derg military dictatorship and how to relate to past and failed socialist projects.
Further reading:
Ian Scott Horst’s Cosmonaut article on this topic “Which side are you on? The Challenge of the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution” as well as his translation “The struggle for democracy in Africa” by Iyasou Alemayehu.
John Markakis and Nega Ayele, Class and Revolution in Ethiopia is a good complement to Ian’s book and goes deeper into the social classes that formed Ethiopia.
