The New Geo-politics in the Horn of Africa and its Implications for Ethiopia’s Foreign Policy
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Date
2020-06
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Addis ababa university
Abstract
It is well established that the Horn of Africa region is a diverse, complex and dynamic region with its own unique history of state formation pattern and age-old external interventions in the region. The Horn of Africa is undergoing far-reaching changes in its regional geopolitical dynamics and its external security landscape in the backdrop of shifting international system. A number of regional and global state actors from the middle eastern region and Gul and internal powerhouses including the US, China, Russia and possibly the EU are currently competing for influence, power, resources and hegemony in the region. This research studied the new geopolitics in the Horn of Africa and its implications for Ethiopia’s foreign policy. Previous reports and research largely focused on the country specific approach to study the region failing to provide a broader and comprehensive framework to the understand the new geopolitics from a foreign policy and geopolitical perspectives.
The dearth of scholarly work on regional political analysis from the broader international relations and geopolitical perspectives is considered as a huge challenge to both scholars and policy makers. The study attempted to answer the emerging superpower competition between global superpowers in the HoA and the new middle eastern involvement in taking into account the national, regional and international systemic factors. For that, a qualitative research approach with an exploratory study framework was selected. Accordingly, the study used a wide variety of secondary source of data including books, journal articles, reports, news articles, government and non-governmental sources and other reliable secondary sources.
The multidimensional and in-depth analysis of the research will try to fill the gaps identified above. The findings of the research will be important in widening the existing body of knowledge on the region and in the arena of policy revision and making. The study identified that the driving factors that shape new the geo-politics of Middle Eastern power dynamics in the Horn include: the post-Arab spring leadership vacuum, the Yemeni civil war, the rivalry with Iran, geo-economic drivers, the GCC crisis and the strategic significance the region. The implications for Ethiopia’s foreign policy are wide ranging including on its economic development, the GERD hydro-politics, regional peace and security and the future of inter-state relations in the Horn of Africa.
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The New Geo-politics in the Horn of Africa and its Implications for Ethiopia’s Foreign Policy