Reader note: This blog post protected by the constitution’s first amendment.
By Jason Karimi
There is a persistent myth in modern political culture: that power is seized primarily through confrontation. Through resistance. Through force.
History tells a far more dangerous—and far more instructive—truth.
Empires are not usually conquered by armies.
They are conquered by negotiations.
Few stories demonstrate this more clearly than the downfall of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia—a case study referenced in Chapter 3 of Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power. It is not a story of invasion. It is a story of influence, positioning, and negotiated isolation.
The Illusion of Invincibility
Haile Selassie ruled Ethiopia for over four decades and was internationally revered. He was a founding figure of the Organization of African Unity. He addressed the United Nations. He was treated as a moral authority on colonialism and African sovereignty.
From the outside, his rule appeared unshakeable.
Inside Ethiopia, however, Selassie’s court operated under an increasingly centralized power structure. Ministers competed for favor. Bureaucratic bottlenecks formed. Military loyalty quietly eroded.
His government had become a single-point power system—and that made it fragile.
Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions
Chapter 3 of The 48 Laws of Power centers on the idea that the most dangerous moves are the ones your opponent never recognizes as threats.
Selassie did not fall to rebellion first.
He fell to administration.
Rather than challenge the emperor directly, rivals within the system focused on reshaping his access to information, resources, and allies. Key officials quietly negotiated loyalty transfers, realigned supply chains, and repositioned decision-making authority.
No battles were fought.
No coup was announced.
The empire was simply… re-negotiated out from under him.
The Coup That Was Already Over
By the time the public learned of the 1974 overthrow, Selassie had already lost control of the military, food distribution, treasury, and communications.
He was still the emperor in name.
But power had already moved.
The army didn’t conquer Selassie.
The negotiations did.
Why This Still Matters
Modern power structures are far more complex—but the principle remains unchanged:
The most decisive victories happen long before the public conflict begins.
We tend to believe power changes when we see confrontation.
In reality, power changes when we stop being consulted.
When your access is limited.
When your allies realign.
When your administrative pipelines shift.
When your decision-making authority is slowly rerouted.
By the time you realize you’re “under attack,” the negotiations have already ended.
Negotiations Are the Battlefield
In contemporary politics, corporate governance, media ecosystems, and regulatory systems, negotiation is not diplomacy.
It is territory.
It determines:
Who controls narrative flow.
Who controls access to regulators.
Who controls capital pipelines.
Who controls enforcement priorities.
Armies only formalize what negotiations already decided.
The Quiet Law of Power
Haile Selassie didn’t lose Ethiopia in a war.
He lost it in a series of meetings he never knew were happening.
And that is the real lesson of Law 3:
You do not lose power when you are defeated.
You lose power when you are no longer part of the conversation.
Negotiations conquer armies — because by the time the armies move, the war is already over.
Reader note: This blog post protected by the constitution’s first amendment.
WeedPress: The Paper Trail 
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