CIVILIZATIONAL DECLINE, CULTURAL MEMORY, AND POLITICAL RECONSTRUCTION: A Critical Analysis of Yohannes Asfaw (PhD) and the Civilizational Politics of the Agaezi National Union (ANU)
Abstract
This paper critically examines the cultural, religious, and historical decline discussed in the interview “ውድቀትና ካብባህልና፣ ሃይማኖትናን ታሪክናን ምፍላይና ‘ዩ!” with historian and cultural critic Dr. Yohannes Asfaw (PhD). Integrating his critique with the civilizational political ideology of the Agaezi National Union (ANU), a civilizational political party movement advocating for the revival of the Greater Geez (Agaezi) Nation and its historical maritime-cultural sphere termed the Geez Red Sea geoeconomics and geopolitics, the paper explores points of convergence, tension, and divergence between scholarly cultural analysis and political civilizational mobilization. Drawing on theories of cultural memory, civilizational identity, political myth-making, and postcolonial nationalism, the paper argues that while both Dr. Yohannes and ANU articulate an urgent need for cultural and historical revitalization, the transition from cultural critique to political program introduces profound methodological, ethical, and analytical complications. The paper concludes that civilizational identity movements such as ANU may gain legitimacy by integrating scholarly rigor, but they must avoid essentialism, ethnocentrism, and mythologized history to remain inclusive and ethically sustainable.
- Introduction
Conceptual Framing of the Title: The title “ውድቀትና ካብ ባህልና፣ ሃይማኖትናን ታሪክናን ምፍላይና ‘ዩ!”immediately suggests an exploration of:
- Cultural degradation (ውድቀት ካብ ባህል)
- Erosion of religious values (ውድቀት ካብ ሃይማኖት)
- Loss or manipulation of historical consciousness (ውድቀት ካብ ታሪክ)
- Societal decline as a direct outcome of these losses (ምፍላይ)
This framing sets a normative and diagnostic tone, where society’s intellectuals, like Dr. Yohannes, tend to examine:
- What has been lost?
- Why was it lost?
- Who or what contributed to the loss?
- How can it be reconstructed?
This interview clearly shows the Intellectual Positioning of Dr. Yohannes Asfaw (PhD) as well. His strong statement that calls for coming back to the origin and truth a solution is highly related with the Agaezi National Union (ANU) civilizational political party missions and determined political activities for the last 4 years.
Dr. Yohannes is widely known as:
- A historian and cultural critic
- A scholar who emphasizes indigenous knowledge systems
- A commentator on identity, collective memory, and social ethics
Thus, his approach is usually:
- Historically grounded
He probably contextualizes decline within major events: colonialism, state centralization, modernity, ideological conflicts, etc.
- Morally normative
He often argues that loss of values is not accidental but socially engineered or institutionally enabled.
- Culturally restorative
His conclusions tend to call for:
- Return to indigenous values
- Reconstruction of identity
- Practicing cultural literacy
- Community-based social revival
- Restoration of Geez Civilization as ANU firlmy and boldly struggles for it in an organized and global manner.
1.1 Background of the Study
Debates about cultural erosion, identity fragmentation, and spiritual deterioration are prominent in public intellectual discourse across the Horn of Africa. Among those contributing to this discourse, Dr. Yohannes Asfaw stands out as a historian who approaches these issues through a cultural-philosophical lens. His interview “ውድቀትና…” emphasizes three main crises:
- Decline of cultural values
- Erosion of spiritual-ethical frameworks
- Loss of historical consciousness
Simultaneously, the Agaezi National Union (ANU) has emerged as a civilizational political party movement seeking to reconstitute an ancient Geez-centered civilizational identity across regions historically connected to the Geez cultural sphere within the Greater Horn of Africa and beyond. The ANU advocates a geoeconomical and geopolitical-cultural vision known as the Greater Geez (Agaezi) Nation encompassing various peoples, languages, tribes, clans, ethnics and historical memories tied to the Geez cultural arc.
It further conceptualizes the Red Sea as the Geez Red Sea, a civilizational-maritime identity space whose cultural heritage predates modern states and borders.
Discourse on cultural degradation, historical dislocation, and spiritual erosion features prominently in the writings and interviews of scholars like Dr. Yohannes Asfaw (PhD). The interview titled “ውድቀትና ካብ ባህልና፣ ሃይማኖትናንታሪክናን ምፍላይና ‘ዩ!” offers a synthesis of these concerns. Simultaneously, the Agaezi National Union (ANU) has emerged as a political organization advocating for the revival of the Greater Geez civilization, sometimes framed as the Agaezi nation, and the geopolitical-cultural reclamation of what it calls the Geez Red Sea.
Both perspectives invoke:
- a shared civilizational memory,
- a narrative of loss and discontinuity, and
- a vision of restoration.
This article investigates whether Dr. Yohannes’ critique complements, challenges, or complicates the ANU’s grand civilizational political project rising within Ethiopia and Eritrea as a sustainable and critical solution.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Both Dr. Yohannes and ANU highlight cultural decline and the need for civilizational restoration,however, some scholars can claim that this is unclear asking the following:
- how their frameworks align theoretically,
- whether ANU’s political vision rests on solid cultural-historical foundations, and
- whether mobilizing civilizational narratives risks essentialism or historical distortion.
This study investigates these questions.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this paper is to:
- critically examine Dr. Yohannes’ cultural decline thesis,
- evaluate the ANU’s civilizational political framework,
- analyze the degree of harmony or contradiction between scholarly critique and political ideology, and
- offer a balanced academic assessment of civilizational nationalism in the Horn of Africa.
1.4 Research Questions
- What are the central elements of cultural and civilizational decline in Dr. Yohannes’ analysis?
- How does the ANU conceptualize civilizational identity, political unity, and the Geez Red Sea?
- In what ways do the two frameworks converge or diverge?
- What are the risks and possibilities of transforming cultural memory into political program?
1.5 Significance of the Study
This research contributes to academic discussions of:
- cultural memory and nationalism
- civilizational politics
- postcolonial identity reconstruction
- Horn of Africa political thought
It also offers insights into the ethical and methodological challenges of civilizational nation-building.
- Literature Review
2.1 Cultural Decline Discourses in African Scholarship
African cultural critics, from Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o to Asmarom Legesse, have emphasized cultural alienation, linguistic loss, and the erosion of indigenous epistemologies.
Key themes include:
- the impact of colonialism on identity (Mbembe, 2001)
- the moral crisis of modernity (Wiredu, 1980)
- the loss of communal ethics (Legesse, 1973)
Dr. Yohannes’s critique falls within this tradition but places more emphasis on Geez-rooted civilizations.
2.2 Geez Civilization Studies
The Geez world, including Aksumite traditions, Red Sea commerce, liturgical culture, and written heritage, has been widely studied (Munro-Hay, 1991; Kaplan, 2017). Scholars emphasize:
- trans-ethnic civilizational continuity,
- Red Sea cosmopolitanism,
- the blending of African, Semitic, and Christian identities.
2.3 Civilizational Nationalism
Civilizational nationalism refers to political movements that appeal to ancient civilizations, real or constructed, as national foundations (Dajani, 2021; Kumar, 2019). Common features include:
- idealized golden-age past
- sacred language revival
- trans-border cultural claims
- moral renewal rhetoric
The ANU exemplifies this model, rooted in Geez civilization as a foundational identity.
2.4 Political Myth-Making and Identity
Political myths, while often rooted in historical memory, are reinterpreted to mobilize modern communities (Bottici & Challand, 2013). Their power lies in:
- emotional resonance
- cultural symbolism
- narrative coherence
But they may oversimplify history or exclude alternative narratives. The critical stand of ANU differes on this as it combines the shared Geez Culture, Shared Geez History, Shared Geez Narratives and Shared Geez Spiritual Heritages and Geez Civilization.
Dr. Yohannes constructs decline in three interrelated spheres:
- Cultural Erosion: He argues that indigenous cultural ethics, collective solidarity, moral humility, intergenerational respect, have been undermined by urbanization, political centralization, conflict, and globalization.
- Religious Dilution: He typically critiques both the politicization of religion and its commercialization, contending that spirituality once formed the ethical anchor of Geez-derived societies.
- Historical Amnesia: A recurring theme is the loss of historical consciousness, which he regards as a root cause of identity fragmentation.
- Diagnosis: In his schema, cultural decline is civilizational decline, and recovery requires returning to indigenous epistemologies rather than fully adopting imported modernities.
- Theoretical Framework
This study draws on four interrelated theoretical frameworks.
3.1 Cultural Memory Theory
Jan Assmann’s concept of cultural memory emphasizes how societies preserve identity through:
- symbols
- rituals
- language
- shared narratives
Both Dr. Yohannes and ANU use cultural memory as a restorative force, with the motto of “Coming back to the origin and truth”!!
3.2 Postcolonial Nationalism
Postcolonial theorists argue that identity reconstruction often draws on precolonial legacies to legitimize nationhood. ANU fits this framework by invoking the Geez civilization.
3.3 Civilizational Identity Theory
Civilizations are understood as long-term cultural systems that transcend ethnicity and territories. ANU’s Greater Geez Nation is a civilizational identity claim.
3.4 Political Myth Theory
Political myths mobilize populations through powerful stories of origins, suffering, and redemption. ANU’s civilizational narrative contains these elements.
ANU and the Vision of the Greater Geez (Agaezi) Nation positions itself as:
- a civilizational political movement,
- rooted in ancient Geez identity,
- emphasizing Red Sea heritage, linguistic unity, ancestral continuity, and
- advocating a political re-imagining of space referred to as the Greater Geez Nation.
3.1 Ideological Foundations
ANU’s central ideas include:
- Geez as the foundational civilizational script and language;
- Agaezi as the nation-civilizational core connecting diverse peoples;
- A historical claim over a culturally unified Red Sea corridor called the Geez Red Sea;
- A belief in reviving authentic pre-colonial identities.
3.2 Political Application
ANU seeks to translate cultural memory into institutional politics, something Dr. Yohannes does not explicitly advocate but indirectly supports through cultural revitalization discourses.
- Analysis of Yohannes Asfaw’s Cultural Decline Thesis
4.1 The Decline of Cultural Ethics: Dr. Yohannes argues that indigenous cultural virtues, integrity, humility, respect for elders, community solidarity, have eroded. He attributes this to:
- globalization
- prolonged violence
- ideological manipulation
- urban dislocation
4.2 The Spiritual-Moral Crisis: He suggests that religion has lost its ethical grounding and has been politicized or commercialized. The Geez-rooted spiritual tradition, once a cohesive moral compass, now struggles to shape daily life.
4.3 Historical Amnesia: Dr. Yohannes asserts that forgetting history weakens identity. Loss of Geez-derived historical consciousness creates:
- cultural inferiority
- societal fragmentation
- youth alienation
4.4 Proposed Remedy: He advocates:
- return to indigenous values
- revival of historical literacy
- reactivation of communal institutions
His analysis is cultural and philosophical—not explicitly political.
What are the Points of Convergence with Agaezi National Union-ANU Civilizational Political Missions?
4.1 Civilizational Memory as Identity
Both Dr. Yohannes and ANU share a diagnosis that contemporary societies in the region have suffered:
- historical uprooting,
- imported ideological fragmentation,
- alienation from Geez-rooted values and norms.
4.2 Desire for Cultural Reconstruction
Both frameworks call for:
- re-centering indigenous heritage,
- strengthening local knowledge systems,
- resisting cultural “amnesia,”
- revitalizing spiritual-ethical foundations.
- Restorative inclusive narration.
In this sense, ANU’s political program can be read as a structural, institutional solution oriented civilizational political party of the problems Dr. Yohannes articulates in cultural-intellectual terms.
Strengths of Integrating Cultural and Civilizational Revival
- Strengthening collective identity
- Restoring historical continuity
- Re-embedding spiritual and ethical foundations
- Reinforcing society’s resilience to global homogenization.
- The Civilizational Political Ideology of ANU
5.1 Historical Foundations of the Greater Geez (Agaezi) Nation
ANU conceptualizes the Geez civilization as:
- a shared civilizational umbrella
- a trans-ethnic identity
- a historic unifying force from the Highlands to the Red Sea
- Borderless and colourless Civilizational Restoration.
5.2 The Geez Red Sea
The ANU frames the Red Sea basin as:
- a civilizational space shaped by Geez culture
- a maritime heritage zone
- a geopolitical center of historical continuity
- a geoeconomic and geodiplomatic hub and main aorta for the globe.
5.3 Ideological Principles
ANU argues for:
- Linguistic and script revival of Geez
- Restoring civilizational heritage
- Creating political unity across Geez-speaking/derived peoples
- Cultural sovereignty
- Resistance against colonial and postcolonial fragmentation
5.4 Political Program
The movement seeks:
- political restructuring
- cultural unity
- educational transformation
- heritage protection
- institutionalization of Geez civilizational values
Unlike Dr. Yohannes, ANU has already translated cultural identity into political activism and civilizational political framework.
- Convergences Between Dr. Yohannes and ANU
- Shared civilizational worldview: both center Geez identity.
- Critique of cultural decline: both diagnose moral-cultural erosion.
- Call for revival: both advocate restoration of indigenous heritage.
- Historical continuity as identity: both see history as key to future survival.
- Resistance to external ideological pressures: both critique foreign frameworks.
- Divergences and Critical Tensions
7.1 Scholarship vs. Ideology
Dr. Yohannes approaches Geez civilization as:
- a cultural system
- a historical entity
- a moral reservoir
ANU treats Geez civilization as:
- a script political project
- a foundational identity
- a civilizational nation
The former analyzes; the latter mobilizes and intervens.
- Discussion
8.1 Civilizational Revival as Political Strategy
Reviving Geez identity can instill confidence, unity, and cultural pride and it must be grounded in scholarship.
8.2 Transforming Cultural Memory Into Political Program
Political mobilization can be powerful and must avoid distortion. Civilizational Memory can become a connecting factor in shaping ideology and restoration of the Greater Geez Nation.
8.3 Ethical Implications
Civilizational politics must remain inclusive and respectful of diversity.
8.4 Practical Challenges
- Red Sea geopolitics
- modern state boundaries
- linguistic diversity
- ethnic pluralism
These complicate ANU’s civilizational vision and has developed a mitigating strategic plan already.
The Expected Core Arguments (based on his academic style):
1) Loss of Culture → Loss of Social Cohesion
Decline in Eritrean/Ethiopian values such as:
- communal solidarity
- respect for elders
- ethical humility
- indigenous conflict-resolution traditions
leads to:
- individualism
- moral confusion
- weakening social support systems
2) Religious Decline → Moral Disorientation
Dr. Yohannes often asserts that:
- religion used to provide ethical grounding
- modern society has depoliticized or commercialized it
- spiritual decline produces moral relativism
3) Historical Amnesia → Political Vulnerability
He is known for warning against:
- forgetting national history
- allowing external narratives to define identity
- losing continuity with heritage
Historical amnesia produces:
- weak citizenship
- susceptibility to manipulation
- youth disconnected from roots
The Strengths of Dr. Yohannes core argument:
- Consistent with cultural-historical scholarship: Dr. Yohannes points to real social phenomena: urbanization, globalization, social erosion.
- Highlights the importance of identity: Many African thinkers agree that cultural alienation is a root of societal problems.
- Encourages introspection and community ethics: His arguments push society to reevaluate its values.
- Conclusion
This study concludes that Dr. Yohannes Asfaw’s cultural critique and the ANU’s civilizational political ideology share foundational concerns about cultural erosion and historical amnesia within the Geez civilizational sphere. A sustainable civilizational revival must be:
- historically grounded,
- culturally sensitive,
- politically inclusive,
- ethically balanced.
Both frameworks offer valuable insights, but their integration requires methodological rigor and ethical responsibility.
Additinally, Dr. Yohannes Asfaw’s critique of cultural, religious, and historical decline resonates strongly with the ANU’s civilizational narrative of the Greater Geez Nation. The Geez Red Sea vision—whether interpreted as geopolitical strategy, cultural space, or identity metaphor—should be evaluated through both scholarly scrutiny and inclusive political ethics. Ultimately, the intersection of scholarship and political imagination offers both possibility and danger. The challenge is ensuring that civilizational revival remains:
- historically grounded,
- inclusive,
- and ethically responsible.
In fact, Dr. Yohannes offers important diagnoses, but the solutions require multi-disciplinary approaches, not cultural critique alone. Let me add a critical message to all Members of the Agaezi National Union (ANU) and our supporters using this opportunity:Brothers and Sisters of the Greater Geez (Agaezi Nation, Geezawit Ethiopia),
Rise with pride and purpose! We are the children of Geʽezawit Ethiopia — heirs to one of the world’s oldest written, spiritual, and civilizational traditions. Our calling is sacred: to rebuild the pillars of our identity, to restore our sovereignty of mind, language, culture, history, civilizatio and destiny. Each of us carries the torch of five eternal pillars — the foundation of the reborn Geʽezawit Ethiopia:
- The Script of Geʽezawit Ethiopia
– The divine alphabet of our ancestors — symbol of literacy, sacred speech, and national identity. It is not ink on parchment; it is the soul of a civilization. Through the revival of our script, we reclaim our voice.
- The System of Administration of Geʽezawit Ethiopia
– Governance rooted in justice, wisdom, and community — where leadership serves, not rules. We rebuild a system inspired by ancient integrity, modern efficiency, and moral clarity.
- The History and Narrative of Geʽezawit Ethiopia
– Our story is not written by others. It is written by us. We preserve the memory of Dʿmt, Adulis, Aksum, Lalibela, Shewa, Gonder and the Greater Geez line — and we tell it with truth, pride, and vision for tomorrow.
- The Sea of Geʽezawit Ethiopia
– The open waters of trade, knowledge, and connection — the Red Sea and beyond. We remember that our ancestors were not landlocked in spirit; they were navigators of faith, culture, and commerce. Our destiny is again to look outward with confidence and unity, eventually restoring both sides of our Red Sea essential for global trade, diplomacy and security.
- The Public National Constitution of Geʽezawit Ethiopia
– A covenant between people and destiny — justice, equality, and faith woven into one sacred charter. We shall shape a public national constitution that protects our values, culture, heriatges, our language, and our freedom.
Members of ANU — your work is the continuation of Aksum’s greatness, of Yared’s melody, of Makeda’s wisdom.Stand tall. Organize. Write. Build. Lead. The spirit of the Agaezi people flows through you.
Let our movement be disciplined in work, unbreakable in faith, and unstoppable in unity.
Let every meeting, every word, every action lift Geʽezawit Ethiopia closer to its renewal.
One Script. One Civilization. One Destiny.
Agaezi National Union (ANU), “For the Restoration of Geʽezawit Ethiopia — Faith, Script, and Sovereignty.”
Dr. Aregawi Mebrahtu
ANU Global Supreme Leadership
Geneva international
www.anu-party.org
References
Asfaw, Y. (2025 November 24). ውድቀትና ካብ ባህልና፣ ሃይማኖትናን ታሪክናን ምፍላይና ‘ዩ!’ [Interview]. https://youtu.be/3ooQFax1JUI?si=sDxdT0MLFu0bZJvi
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