June 2021 Elections On June 21st Ethiopians headed to the polls. It was widely expected that the incumbent prime minister Abiy Ahmed would emerge the winner. 47 parties have participated in the general and regional elections. Abiy’s Prosperity Party leads the chart on the number of registered candidates contesting for seats at the parliament with…
The Biden State Department has just named career diplomat Jeffrey Feltman to be Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa. Given the geopolitical powder keg in the region and given the dark history of Feltman, especially in Lebanon and during the infamous CIA Arab Spring interventions after 2009, the relevant question is whether Washington has…
The Horn of Africa is arguably the most geostrategic part of the continent for the rest of the world at large so it’s only fitting that Russia crafts a comprehensive strategy for advancing its interests there, one which would become much more viable if it seriously considered partnering with the region’s de facto Emirati hegemon…
The high hopes that many had for a radical improvement of the situation in the Horn of Africa just a few short years ago have been shattered by a combination of internal and international conflicts centered on Ethiopia, but it might be premature to predict that the region won’t ever recover since Prime Minister Abiy…
The Red Sea is steadily growing in importance as a nexus of geopolitical competition, which at the same time poses security challenges for the countries of the region. The lack of a clear consensus on the rules of competition between international and regional powers has only intensified the frantic race by both state and non-state actors…
A decades-long effort by the United States and other western states to remake the Horn of Africa nation of Somalia in their images has only resulted in further political fragmentation and economic underdevelopment. The current President Mohamed Abdullahi had attempted through the parliament based in the capital of Mogadishu to postpone the elections in order…
