The government reaction to this and subsequent demonstrations was swift and unproportionate, according to the U.S. State Department and European Union. In an effort to squelch peaceful protest, the government's special police force ended up killing more than 40 students and civilians, wounding more than 251 people and arresting more than 3,000 university students and hundreds of opposition political members. Many attribute the action as a sign of things to come in Ethiopia. At the same time, Ethiopia remains one of the most strategic and unstable African countries. Unrest, bloodshed and even civil war are a real possibility.
Marxist doctrinaires rule unknown to many outside Ethiopia.
In 1991, dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam was defeated by a more staunch Marxist group led by Meles, the current leader of the Tigrean Peoples Liberation Front and Ethiopia. He ascended to power with the help of the Eritrean dictator, Isaias Afeworki, and the United States. In 1998, Meles went to war with Afeworki over a barren piece of land, causing massive death and dislocation in both countries. Prior to 1998, the Clinton administration touted Meles, Isaias and the president of Uganda as the stars and hope of Africa. It merely showed the shallowness and the failure of Clinton's African policy.