What is it about?

The chapter explains why the Horn of Africa has become one of the most unstable regions in the world, with repeated civil wars, border disputes, and state collapse. It closely examines Ethiopia’s internal changes, ethnic politics, and federal system, then widens the lens to show how both local grievances and external powers, including Gulf states, the US, China, and Europe, shape conflicts in Somalia, Sudan, and other countries. The chapter argues that to understand today’s crises, we must see how ethnicity, weak governance, and intense regional and international competition all interact in this small but strategically vital area.

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Why is it important?

This chapter is important because it demonstrates that violence in the Horn of Africa is not merely “chaos without reason,” but rather the outcome of deliberate political choices, incomplete nation-building, and intense geopolitical struggles. By connecting questions of identity, state fragility, and great-power rivalry, it helps readers understand why short-term security fixes or narrow peace deals often fail, and why any lasting solution must address both local power-sharing and the broader security dynamics surrounding the Red Sea and the wider region. These insights are crucial for diplomats, regional organizations, and researchers seeking to prevent the next wave of conflict and support more inclusive and resilient political orders in the Horn.

Perspectives

Writing this chapter was especially meaningful for me because it brought together many years of following Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan as both a scholar of African politics and someone deeply concerned about the human cost of repeated wars. Working through the material convinced me even more that what happens in the Horn of Africa is central, not peripheral, to the future of African security and to wider debates on how ethnicity, external intervention, and fragile states interact.

Professor Hamdy A. Hassan
Zayed University

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Ethnicity, Insecurity and Geostrategic Transformation in the Horn of Africa, January 2021, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/978-981-16-1486-6_3.
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