Horn of Africa

Must Read

Esquire: Africa Command

Author: Thomas Barnett

A few years ago, with little fanfare, the United States opened a base in the horn of Africa to kill or capture Al Qaeda fighters. By 2012, the Pentagon will have two dozen such forts. The story of Africa Command, the American military's new frontier outpost.

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Foreign Affairs Article

Blowing the Horn

Authors: John Prendergast and Colin Thomas-Jensen

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.

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Analysis Brief

Morass in Somalia Deepens

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.

See more in Horn of Africa, Somalia, Wars and Warfare

News Release

Ethiopia-Eritrea Proxy War in Somalia Risks Broader Regional Conflict, Warns New Council Report

Conflict in the Horn of Africa is escalating rapidly as power struggles within Somalia are exacerbated by military support that both Ethiopia and Eritrea give to the opposing parties there. Ethiopia backs the weak interim government; Eritrea sponsors the Islamic militants fighting to overthrow it. Because the United States has accused Somalia of harboring al-Qaeda suspects, “the Ethiopian-Eritrean proxy conflict increases the opportunities for terrorist infiltration of the Horn and East Africa and for ignition of a larger regional conflict,” warns a new Council Special Report.

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Analysis Brief

DRAWING A LINE IN AFRICA

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.

See more in Horn of Africa, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Peacekeeping