The Horn of Africa might be most infamous for the pirates that lurk along its coastline, capturing oil tankers and holding their crews to ransom. Yet the region is rapidly assuming global political significance, its internal tensions both fuelling and exacerbating a race among foreign powers to gain influence. Observers worry that this modern-day scramble…
The Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Turkey, the unrest in Iran, the civil war in Syria, the US exit from the “nuclear deal” with Tehran, the military actions in Yemen and the situation in Afghanistan attract the attention of international media. In addition, in many regions of the Middle East the situation is no less…
The official end of hostilities between Ethiopia and Eritrea has the chance of ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity for what has up until this point been one of the tensest and most impoverished parts of Africa. The fast-moving Ethiopian-Eritrean rapprochement culminated in Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visiting President Isaias Afwerki and…
Prime Minister Abiy’s decision to take three main “armed opposition” groups off of his country’s terrorist list and to travel to America to meet with some of their leaders is an unprecedentedly positive outreach that will greatly assist Ethiopia’s peaceful “revolution” by giving these forces a chance to participate in the inclusive political framework that…
A grenade went off shortly after Prime Minister Abiy was done addressing a huge crowd of supporters in central Addis Ababa, killing at least two people and injuring dozens. The country’s leader sharply condemned the attack and vowed that the perpetrators won’t succeed in destabilizing Africa’s second-most populous state and its fastest-growing economy. It’s not…
The reported details of the forthcoming peace deal that’s expected to be signed shortly prove that the very concept of an independent South Sudan has failed. South Sudan defied all expectations and surprised the world by agreeing to a peace deal for its five-year-long civil war during international talks in the neighboring Sudanese capital of…
