Is the international community failing Ethiopia again?

Ethiopia has repeatedly experienced the consequences of multilateralism’s failure to act.

As a founding member state of the United Nations and a member of the League of Nations, Ethiopia has always been an ardent supporter of multilateralism. It is a staunch devotee to the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter including the principle of collective security. Ethiopia is hugely proud of its historic and weighty contributions to the UN, especially its peacekeeping operations. It also joined the Alliance for Multilateralism with a firm belief that only cooperation can help us solve shared challenges. Notwithstanding this, Ethiopia has also experienced the consequences of the failure of multilateralism to act in the interest of collective security. In late 1935, the forces of Fascist Italy invaded Ethiopia – while the pleas of the late Emperor Haile Selassie to the League of Nations went largely ignored. The Emperor appealed to the international community not to abandon Ethiopia while the invading fascist forces were using mustard gas on its people. In his impassioned speech to world leaders at the League of Nations in 1936, he described how “women, children, cattle, rivers and pastures were drenched with this deadly rain”.