BY ALEMAYEHU G. MARIAM, The Hill © Getty Earlier this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visited the Middle East and Africa to “reaffirm key U.S. military alliances” and engage with strategic partners.” Mattis only visited the tiny nation of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa where the U.S. maintains its largest military base. Ethiopia was…
The Horn of Africa region is central to the world’s maritime trade. It’s also beginning to fall apart. BY ALEX DE WAAL , FP Back in 2002, Meles Zenawi, then prime minister of Ethiopia, drafted a foreign policy and national security white paper for his country. Before finalizing it, he confided to me a “nightmare scenario” —…
BBC Africa Bordered by Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, tiny Djibouti has quietly been making headlines for its dreams to become as successful as the Emirate An oasis of peace Bordered by Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Djibouti is an oasis of peace in a part of Africa marred by piracy and instability. It is this privileged…
By South Front The Emirati Armed Forces has started to use actively the Eritrean ports. According to our information, at least, three landing craft belonging to the United Arab Emirates were docked in the port of Assab on September 16. A diplomatic row between Djibouti and UAE took precedence of these developments. On 28 April…
By Adam Taylor , The Washington Post Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki listens as he meets with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir during his official visit in Khartoum, June 11, 2015. (REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah) On Monday, the United Nations released the results of a year-long investigation into human rights in Eritrea. What it found was horrific. Detailing “systematic, widespread and…
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 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…