The onset of a shooting war between Ethiopia’s National Defense Force (ENDF) and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which began on 4 November 2020, was predictable. The surprise so far has been the reluctance of Ethiopia’s leadership under Nobel Peace Prize-winning Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed Ali, to accommodate appeals for de-escalation. On 25 November, the Prime Minister took to his twitter-feed to urge “the international community, to refrain from any acts of unwelcome or unlawful interference and respect the fundamental principles of non-intervention under international law.” In an appeal garnished with generous references to Charter of the United Nations, the Constitutive Act of the African Union and to case law of the International Court of Justice, the Prime Minister argued that “the measures we have taken against those who have taken up arms against the federation are in accordance with the spirit and objectives of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, which prohibits unconstitutional change of government and promotes democratic governance.”