ABSTRACT
By the beginning of the 1950s, relations between the United States and Ethiopia had taken on an unusual cast, as the political actors of each state held contradictory perceptions and expectations of the other’s role in the promotion of their respective foreign policy goals. Ethiopian political elites compared their state to other significant peripheral countries to assess American equity, but they failed to recognize the fact that the American conception of Ethiopia’s role in the unitary world capitalist system radically differed from the Ethiopian vision. Ethiopia had a card to play against the United States by diversilying its external relations, always a concern to Washington. As part of the effort to regularize the flow of military dollars into Ethiopia, the United States agreed to extend $20 million in grant military aid for the period 1958 to 1961. In November, 1958, the United States approached Ethiopia with a request for a permission to negotiate with the Eritrean government for more facilities.
