A politically and economically vulnerable region that borders a stretch of the Red Sea, the Horn of Africa is escalating in importance for world leaders. Both China and the United States have major bases on the peninsula, and its location on the major maritime trade routes between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea is critical to global commerce. Nation-states, including Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan, have struggled with poverty, lawlessness, and border disputes, and the region’s close access to the Middle East contributes to this multifaceted instability.
