Interesting analysis. I have held to the idea that it was in fact the ties that Ethiopia held with the nobility in Europe that allowed her to remain relatively independent in the face of much of the colonization of the rest of the continent. It allowed Ethiopia to call in the assistance of the British and others when faced with Italian aggression.

I do not however think that this clouds the symbolic nature of Abyssinia/Ethiopia in the greater picture though. Indeed, would Haile Selassie even have been in the POSITION to call for an Organization of African Unity if it were not for these ties that allowed some autonomy of policy initiation whereas other nations in Africa may not have been allowed this freedom. We do not know either how constrained Haile Selassie was by the arrangements with Europe in his efforts for an independent Africa. I feel Haile Selassie still stands as a very strong symbol of dignity despite historical circumstance.