Challenges to Peace and Stability in the Horn of Africa

The Most Conflicted Corner of the World


In the post-World War II era, the Horn of Africa has consistently been the most conflicted corner of the world. That is a bold assertion, but hear me out and then tell me if there is another region of the world that has consistently been more conflicted.

Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea recovered from wartime Italian military occupation only to confront soon thereafter a series of internal and inter-state conflicts. In the case of Ethiopia, this included a rebellion in Eritrea province, the violent overthrow of the Haile Selassie government by a military junta followed by an expanded internal war that in 1991 removed the military government that had deposed Haile Selassie. This event coincided with the hard fought independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia.

A bloody border war then broke out between Eritrea and Ethiopia in 1998. Although it ended two years later, it did not resolve the border disagreement and the leadership in the two countries remain implacably at odds. The government of Ethiopia faces opposition from elements of several armed ethnic groups clamoring for more political power or even independence. There is also a growing Eritrean exile community opposed to the government in Asmara.
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