The rules of engagement entirely result from the PRESUMPTION they control the narrative.
Somalia recently has been very exciting in this field because with an overly engaged population that now has widely diffused communication platforms, the crisis entrepreneurs have been in a war of attrition attempting to not lose influence in the narrative.
Notice I said not lose control over the narrative---, that's because they don't control the narrative.
However, they have been fighting tooth and nail not to lose influence in it.
Ethiopia however is totally different ball game. There issue is a war against an unpopular, long time authoritarian rebel group not a political contest with dífferent sets of democratic rules to manipulate.
And Ethiopians have numbers and unity---evem the most anti-Abiy Ethiopian as long as they aren't Tigrayan give 2 shits about TPLF so thats almost a 100 milloon vs 6, huge odds.
So just when the crisis entrepreneurs thought they were hitting a tsrget with the Amnesty report, 100,000 Ethiopians demonstrated in front of the White House i Washington D.C.
And why is this significant?
Becausr when you have the Council of Foreign Relations take stock of this reality and then be compelled to recognize the public pushbsvk against the crisis entrepreneurs, it legitimizes for the first time WHY there is criticism---something the crisis entrepreneurs are totally unprepared for since in the rules of engagement, THEY ARE THE CRITICS.
Which allows them to then blur the lines between advocacy and lobbying aka profit motive.
These guys are going to get whacked by the Ethiopian diaspora. Just watch.
They have never faced such a large diaspora, virtually their own Western citizens in a very passionate engagement in support of the entity chosen as the target this time by the crisis entrepreneurs.
They are usef to the target being someone despised by the diaspora/outside who would be the dissidents...but in that playbook, thr chosen tsrget would be likr the TPLF being the power not the Abiy gov fighting to disband the TPLF.
And Ethiopians can't be demonized with the muslim card or other tools used to delegetimize why they are critical.
It's fascinating.
