Resources for a Conversation on US Policy towards Eritrea

We hope to engage in a productive conversation focused on improving outcome. The aim of the discussion isn’t about proving someone wrong and in anyway about criticizing the government’s efforts.

It is to be taken as a given, the primary role of the Government of Eritrea is to defend and secure the country. It is dealing with substantial and some existential threats and our aim is to find ways that those of us in diaspora can help with the development and strengthening Eritrea. The conversation will be focused on ways those in diaspora can help improve Eritrea-US relations. The model we hope to develop, with adjustment for local policies and structures, can be adapted to work in other communities where there are Eritreans in diaspora.

In someways, this conversation is necessitated by those of us in diaspora’s failure to move the needle on the perception of Eritrea in the US and our failure to organize and galvanize to improve the relationship.

There some recommended best practices for influencing US policy that if practiced consistently have proven effective:

1. Know what you want to influence : Identify the policies that are to be targeted for change.
2. Know who you want to influence: Identify those with power to influence directly or indirectly a change in the policy.
3. Know when to influence: Timing and understanding the cadence of the electoral cycles is important. Tracking and targeting policies while in development is critical
4. Build relationships and networks: Need to build on top of the community networks in place. It is critical to establish relationships with researchers, staffers and entities that have the capacity to drive change.
5. Policy development is not a linear process: Changing policy is a complex process and has a lot of moving parts. Continued engagement is critical.
6. Policy-making is inherently political: Awareness of politics and the dynamic is critical, or there is a potential to actually make things worse if we engage in grand standing or are interested in reliving history as a way to bludgeon policy makers.
7. Plan your engagement: Coordination, developing talking points and putting together succinct executive summaries of reports is crucial.

Asmara in the 1930s

1. Focus on ideas and be propositional: Focus on the change and develop constructive solutions to get buy-in. Not just what is wrong but what is a better solution to serve both countries’ interest.
2. It takes time, stick at it: If it isn’t obvious, results won’t come overnight. But timing is right, as 2022–23 may prove to be a key inflection point for change of policy toward Africa.
3. Monitor, learn and adjust along the way: Constantly learn from sucesses and failure. Adjust strategy when needed.

Some interesting reading material and data that may be helpful, should we chose to venture down this path:

• A New US Policy Framework for the African Century (CSIS)
• The Evolution of US-Vietnam Ties (CFR)
• A New Direction for US Foreign Policy in Africa (Dissent Mag.)
• CSIS Great Debate on US-Africa Policy:

More studies and information to follow…