How Alemseged’s historical observations expose the recycled mechanisms of Western domination today

The Economics of Displacement

In Chapter 23, Alemseged explains that ancient coastal kingdoms did not lose power because they were militarily defeated. They lost power when foreign merchants and imperial financiers made them economically dependent. Once a kingdom accepted foreign prices for its own resources, it surrendered sovereignty without ever seeing an invading army.

Alemseged summarizes this transformation with a single warning:

“It is not the army that breaks a kingdom but the ledger; when a people no longer value their own resources without foreign validation, sovereignty is already lost.” (Ch. 23)

The same pattern is visible in the modern Sahel. Niger possesses uranium, yet France determines its value. Burkina Faso has abundant gold, yet production benefits external actors more than the people who live on the land. Mali holds lithium, the foundation of the electric-vehicle future, yet Western corporations dictate the value chain. Each nation exports wealth while importing poverty. This mirrors the slow erasure of Adulis, where Rome controlled commercial terms until Eritrea’s own maritime authority became irrelevant. Yesterday, African kingdoms were told they must export through Rome. Today, African states are told they must export through Paris.

The sea was once the barrier. Now the price is.

Port Access, Then and Now — Eritrea to the Dominican Republic

In Chapter 24, Alemseged shows how foreign influence took hold not by seizing harbors, but by inserting foreign currency and controlling exchange. Once society cannot trade without the foreign coin, the conquest is already complete. It is economic dependency disguised as partnership.

Alemseged writes:

“Once the foreign coin becomes indispensable for local exchange, invasion is no longer required. The invader owns the market, not the land.” (Ch. 24)

This is precisely the model operating in the Dominican Republic. The United States did not need direct occupation. It saturated the economy with tourism capital, security cooperation, and dollar-denominated debt. Dominican leaders now align with U.S. commercial and diplomatic interests, even when those interests contradict the needs of the Dominican people. The foreign market becomes the true capital city. The local government merely administers compliance.

What merchants did to Adulis, Washington now does to Santo Domingo. Geography changed. Mechanisms did not.

The Elite as Gatekeepers — Historical and Modern

Alemseged identifies another constant across centuries: foreign domination does not require overthrowing a ruler. It requires convincing the ruler that foreign approval is more valuable than domestic loyalty. Once leadership internalizes that belief, they become the enforcers of foreign priorities.

He captures it directly:

“Foreign control begins when the king fears losing foreign favor more than losing the loyalty of his people.” (Ch. 23)

This explains why African nations tied to the CFA Franc remain financially dependent on France even as their people suffer. It explains why Dominican leadership prioritizes investor security over national development. It explains why the African Union frequently echoes Western diplomatic language rather than asserting African political agency. Colonization evolved. It now recruits elites instead of armies.

Alemseged’s Warning and the Sahel’s Response

Alemseged issues a clear instruction for liberation:

“The day the coast refuses to await permission to sail is the day the continent begins to govern itself.” (Ch. 24)

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have acted on this principle. They stopped asking for Western validation before forming alliances, signing contracts, or determining the price of their own resources. They sought partners outside Paris and Washington, and in doing so reclaimed what Alemseged calls the indigenous right to value one’s own wealth.

That is why sanctions followed. The punishment was not for rebellion, instability, or illegitimacy. The punishment was for attempting sovereignty.

Alemseged’s Logic Applied

Alemseged’s core message is simple:

1. History does not repeat. It upgrades its instruments.

Where Aksum’s trade routes were restricted by foreign control of maritime access, today’s African states are hemmed in by currency dependence, credit ratings, and external investment terms. The sword has become the bond. The blockade has become the loan.

2. Two paths now stand side by side:

The Sahel chooses to break the financial chains and risks open confrontation.

The Dominican Republic accepts the constraints and inherits quiet colonization.

3. Our conclusion is unambiguous:

A nation that does not control its ports, its currency, and its alliances is not sovereign. It is a territory performing independence while living under external administration.

The flags remain local.

The power does not.