Russia inherited a thankless task sustaining Mengistu’s Ethiopia

Evidence

The opportunist Russian thrust into the power vacuum created in Ethiopia by the withdrawal of American support from Colonel Mengistu’s reign of terror, may initially have seemed advantageous to Western interests. America was no longer involved in sustaining a precariously poised regime which, soi-disant socialist as it was, was clearly determined to remain in power by liquidating all opposition in the most savage manner. Russia had taken on a perilous and ultimately arguably thankless task, since it was far from clear whether Ethiopia could be held together, except at a cost in manpower, arms and involvement at which even the U.S.S.R. might baulk. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 574

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Lewis’s recurring assessment of superpower entanglement costs in Africa. — connects to: Soviet dominance over Ethiopia fulfilled a long-repressed Tsarist protectorate ambition; A former Russian mission head directed the Ethiopia campaign against Somalia — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 572; Siyad’s survivalist rule reinforced clan segmentation to Ethiopia’s advantage — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 611 (+1 more)

Related

• Soviet dominance over Ethiopia fulfilled a long-repressed Tsarist protectorate ambition (similarity 0.88)
• A former Russian mission head directed the Ethiopia campaign against Somalia (similarity 0.83)
• Soviet control over Ethiopia fulfilled a century-old Tsarist ambition (similarity 0.79)
• By 1978 Somalia had lost superpower patronage while Ethiopia switched camps (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Siyad’s survivalist rule reinforced clan segmentation to Ethiopia’s advantage #corroborates (0.55) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 611
• Siyad’s survivalism reinforced Somali segmentary politics to Ethiopia’s advantage #corroborates (0.55)
• A former Russian mission head directed the Ethiopia campaign against Somalia #expands (0.50) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 572