Recently, two major developments in Somalia and Djibouti have attracted international media attention. John Kerry became the first U.S. Secretary of State to visit Mogadishu, while China has negotiated the construction of a military base in the strategic port of Djibouti. These two “symbolic” and substantive developments represent both an opportunity and a challenge for the U.S.…
By AfricanIntelligence Undermined by the incursion of the Ethiopian army into Kenyan territory in late May (at the Illeret locality, 15 km from the border), relations between Kenya and Ethiopia could deteriorate even further. The Kenyan government has decided to break the agreement signed with Ethiopia in 2012 under which Kenya undertook to import some…
By SIMON ALLISON, Daily Maverick You might think Africa has enough conflicts of its own to deal with, without having to worry about those on other continents. Yemen, however, is fast becoming an African war too – which means we all need to pay attention. By SIMON ALLISON. On Tuesday, just hours before a proposed humanitarian…
Beijing’s presence “welcomed”, raising prospect of US and Chinese bases side-by-side in tiny Horn of Africa nation. Guellah has “welcomed” China’s plan to “protect its interests” in Djibouti [AFP] China is negotiating a military base in a strategic port of Djibouti, the president said, according to the AFP news agency. The move raises the prospect of…
By Frank GardnerBBC security correspondent By Frank Gardner, BBC Saudi Arabia believed Houthi rebels posed a threat to the kingdom, according to the official Yemen unrest: A senior Gulf Arab official has given British journalists the most detailed explanation yet as to why the Saudi-led coalition has gone to war against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.…
By Tyler Rogoway, Foxtrot Alpha There is no doubt that the idea of Iran controlling Yemen via their Houthi Rebel proxies is a nightmare for Saudi Arabia. A large part of this nightmare is the possibility that Iran could deny access to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf simultaneously, cutting off Saudi Arabia’s main avenues for…
Two decades ago, then American president Bill Clinton helped popularize the term “new breed of African leaders” whom he believed to be different from iron-fisted totalitarian rulers that had entrenched “big man politics.” Unlike the later, new breed leaders were thought to espouse democratic governance and socioeconomic transformation. The core members of the new breed…
Mareeg.com-More than half a century ago, Frantz Fanon made two pivotal observations about cataclysmic convulsions that would engulf Central and Eastern Africa. The first referred to his prescient observation that the African continent resembles a revolver, and Zaire is the trigger (Fanon, 1966 [2005]). His clairvoyant statement eerily prefigures what political commentators have, since…