The Greater Horn of Africa, the hottest conflict zone in the world, is a legitimate concern of U.S. officials. But their overwhelming focus on stemming terrorism there is overshadowing U.S. initiatives to resolve conflicts and promote good governance -- with disastrous implications for regional stability and U.S. counterterrorism objectives themselves.

This module features teaching notes by George Mason University professor Terrence Lyons, author of Avoiding Conflict in the Horn of Africa, along with other resources to supplement the text. In the report, Lyons presents a full picture of what is going on in the Horn of Africa and suggests what the United States needs to do to address the multiple challenges to stability.

As the humanitarian crisis in Somalia deepens, experts see bleak prospects for reconciliation talks between the transitional government and the Islamist opposition.

Ethiopia is a staunch U.S. ally in the Horn of Africa. But its domestic policies raise questions about the wisdom of the partnership.

Ethiopian troops appear to have won a military victory over Somalia's Islamic Courts militias, who fled Mogadishu Thursday. Their exit leaves a power vacuum in Somalia, and the United States’ focus on counterterrorism in the Horn of Africa may hinder its ability to defuse the crisis.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, proposes sending a high-level team of Americans to the Ethiopia/Eritrea border to help settle the simmering border conflict there. Eritrea objects to the mission, questioning its legality and saying it would only accept rulings that forced Ethiopia to accept a border agreed to in peace talks after the last war.

Jendayi Frazer and EJ Hogendoorn discuss the short- and long-term challenges in East Africa for regional governments, international institutions, and U.S. policy.

Listen to Bronwyn E. Bruton, international affairs fellow in residence at CFR, discuss her recent Foreign Affairs article, "In the Quicksands of Somalia," with students as part of CFR's Academic Conference Call series.

Learn more about CFR's Academic Initiative.

A profile of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a separatist group operating in eastern Ethiopia.

This report presents a full picture of what is going on in the Horn of Africa and suggests what the United States needs to do to address the multiple challenges to stability.

The Nairobi Protocol for the Prevention, Control, and Reduction of Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa was adopted on April 21, 2004 in Nairobi, Kenya.

A CIA map shows the areas occupied by Somalia's clans and subclans.

An interactive map of the Horn of Africa.

Targeted killings are up in Yemen and military trials have resumed in Guantanamo. CFR's Matthew Waxman assesses the White House's evolving legal basis for its war on al-Qaeda.

Famine in the Horn of Africa underscores the problems of an international foreign aid community struggling to keep up with its commitments at a time of a falling dollar and rising food prices, says CFR's Laurie Garrett.

Ethiopia’s U.S. ambassador says his government needs more international help in securing Somalia and is wrongly blamed by Congress for rights abuses.

Terrence Lyons, an expert on the Horn of Africa, says despite U.S. concerns about al-Qaeda, it is local rivalries driving conflicts in Somalia and elsewhere in the region.

The West may no longer be the main target for terrorist organizations; turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa has given rise to an increased number of more locally-focused attacks in the last year.