PART II. The Twin Dreamers of Abyssinian Kings and a Dead Empire

In Part One of this series, “The Quest for Mama Ethiopia,” I argued that Isaias Afwerki and Abiy Ahmed are not obsessed with the countries they govern. They are not focused on the nation state of Eritrea or the nation state of Ethiopia. Both are instead obsessed with a symbolic Ethiopia, the imagined mother of the region, the civilizational throne that both men believe they are destined to inherit.

To understand why these two leaders act as they do, why they destroy institutions, rewrite history, personalize diplomacy, and treat borders as illusions, we must look deeper into their political psychology.

This Part Two was inspired by the thoughtful insight of Ustaz Ismail Ahmed (Ismail Ahmad), whose observation captured the essence of the matter. Neither of these leaders is guided by modern political science or nation state thinking. Both are shaped by an Abyssinian medieval imagination, a world of outlaw kings, clerical power brokers, and dreams of imperial restoration.

They are not modern leaders but dreamers of thrones that no longer exist. Here is why:

I. Their Heroes Are Not Nation Builders but Outlaw Kings

The men they admire tell us everything:
• Yekuno Amlak
• Tewodros the Second, known as Kassa of Qwara (ቋራ)
• Yohannes the Fourth, known as Kassa Mercha of Tembien

These figures were not founders of nations. They were warrior rulers who:
• rose through rebellion
• claimed divine selection
• relied on clergy for legitimacy
• unified through war
• ruled through violence
• treated political power as personal destiny

This is the model that shapes both Isaias and Abiy. Their worldview is not rooted in:
• institutions
• constitutions
• equal citizenship

but in ideas of restoration, prophecy, and the logic of the throne.

II. Isaias: The Last Habesha Rebel Without a Crown

Ustaz Ismail’s insight is essential.
Isaias is not shaped by Eritrean nationalism. He is shaped by the psychology of the Habesha outlaw king.

He sees himself as a chosen rebel correcting history through force. His political life follows this pattern:
• infiltrate the Eritrean Liberation Front
• fracture it
• consolidate the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front
• eliminate rivals
• manipulate Tigray, Oromo, Somali, and Amhara factions
• rewrite national narratives
• personalize diplomacy

To him, Eritrea is Qwara, a launching ground for a larger personal ambition.
His true arena is Ethiopia.

If Isaias Had Been a Real Eritrean Nationalist

Here is the contrast that exposes everything.

If Isaias had been a true Eritrean nationalist, his heroes would have been the nation builders of the nineteen forties and nineteen fifties. These were the men who carried Eritrea’s identity when the world tried to erase it:
• Abdulkadir Kebire
• Woldeab Woldemariam
• Ibrahim Sultan Ali
• Mohamed Saleh Hummed
• Osman Saleh Sabbe
• Sheikh Omar Qadi
• and thousands of organizers who created parties, drafted constitutions, lobbied the world, and kept Eritrean identity alive

A true nationalist would have:
• honored their legacy
• preserved their history
• protected their families
• placed their stories at the center of the republic

Isaias did the opposite: he
• allowed their families to languish in refugee camps.
• erased their contributions.
• elevated the sons and daughters of former unionists, those who once worshipped Haile Selassie and fought against Eritrean independence.
• handed our religious institutions to individuals shaped by imperial loyalty, not Eritrean identity.

This is not nationalism. It is betrayal disguised as leadership.

III. Abiy: Oromo by Birth, Abyssinian by Aspiration

Abiy’s formation mirrors that of Isaias, although through a different road.

He claims he dreamt of becoming the seventh king of Ethiopia.
His political behavior confirms that claim:
• use of prophecy
• reliance on mystics and clergy
• imperial ceremonies and symbolism
• Red Sea rhetoric based on entitlement rather than diplomacy
• attempts to rewrite imperial history as destiny

Abiy may be Oromo in origin, but his political imagination is Abyssinian and imperial.

He does not want to govern a federal republic.
He wants to restore a civilizational throne.

IV. Two Men, One Crown

Isaias and Abiy are not enemies of land.
They are enemies of succession.

Each believes he is the rightful heir to the same historical space.

Isaias sees himself as the older revolutionary kingmaker.
Abiy sees himself as the chosen seventh king.

Two men.
One crown.

This is why their alliance collapsed.
And why their rivalry is now existential.

V. The Prequel: The Trap of Tigray and PFDJ

This is not the first time the region has been ruled by men with a usurper mentality.

The long era of no war and no peace from nineteen ninety eight to twenty eighteen was born from the same state of mind.
• Tigray said the PFDJ was stealing Ethiopia’s wealth
• Isaias said Tigray was dismantling the greatness of Ethiopia
• PFDJ said Tigray stole revolutionary legitimacy
• Each saw the other as an impostor
• Neither could accept equality

Badme was never the issue.
It was a fight over legitimacy, not land.

The result:
• twenty years of paralysis
• mass suffering
• regional decay
• generational trauma

The same script is now playing out between Abiy and Isaias.
The actors change.
The psychology remains the same.

VI. The Hard Truth: The Empire They Seek Is Dead

Isaias and Abiy are trying to revive:
• the old clergy and crown system
• divine right to rule
• ancient frontiers
• Solomonic mythology
• a king centered idea of the state

But all of this ended in nineteen seventy four.

Today:
• Ethiopia is a multinational republic
• Eritrea is a sovereign state
• borders are fixed
• people legitimize power, not priests and not prophecies

They are fighting for a mother that no longer exists.

VII. The Mother They Want Is Not the Mother That Exists

Their imagined Ethiopia is:
• sacred
• imperial
• destiny driven
• unified by force
• rooted in myth

The real Ethiopia today is:
• plural
• federal
• post imperial
• contested
• shaped by a written constitution

One is imagination.
One is reality.

They are fighting over a ghost.

Conclusion

Part One exposed the mercenaries.

Part Two reveals the medieval imagination that drives their ambitions. For that insight I thank Ustaz Ismail Ahmed.

Stay tuned for Part Three, where I will uncover the weapon one man used to divide an entire nation and then rule it.
Naming the past is the first step toward reclaiming the future. 

By: Nasser Omer Ali
November 12, 2025