At a time when regional conflicts are winding down in many parts of the world, stubborn local insurgencies continue to gain ground against established governments in the Horn of Africa. In the last few months alone, in three important countries of the Horn, these insurgencies have been partly responsible for a major coup attempt, a successful coup, and the near collapse of another government (in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia, respectively). Clearly, the Horn is a region of continuing turbulence.
Events in the Horn are not monitored by most Americans or even by the U.S. press, except for humanitarian accounts of efforts to alleviate starvation; nonetheless, it is a strategically vital area.
The Horn takes its name from its shape, a protruding promontory separating the Red Sea from the Indian Ocean and including the vital Strait of Bab al-Mandab at the southern end of the Red Sea--alone among the world's major sea-lane choke points in having a pro-Soviet state on either side of the strait. In wartime the Horn is the only spot where Soviet naval forces could easily block the critical line of supply from the Persian Gulf to Europe. With the exception of Djibouti (which does have troubles), each of the Horn's major countries is torn by internal strife. The insurgent movements of southern Sudan; of Eritrea, Tigre, and elsewhere in Ethiopia; and northern Somalia are waging war for greater autonomy or independence from their central governments. These insurgencies interlock with rival neighboring countries often backing each other's insurgent opponents. In both Ethiopia and Sudan, relief convoys seeking to prevent starvation have been attacked by insurgent groups.
Recent years have seen superpower efforts to defuse the potential for explosion in the Horn, but here, unlike most parts of the world, the superpowers have little leverage against the insurgencies plaguing the area. The Soviets, for example, have reportedly told their Ethiopian allies that continued intransigence on the Eritrean separatist issue is counterproductive. So far the results have been hard to discern, though the May coup attempt against the Ethiopian government was led by troops opposed to continuing the Eritrean war. The United States also seeks to defuse troubles in the Horn; it has passed for peace talks in the Sudan and quietly pressured Somalia against using U.S. military equipment to put down last year's northern uprising.
The Horn traditionally includes Ethiopia, Somalia, and Djibouti (which, with its French garrison and seaport, is relatively stable and secure in the midst of chaos). To these countries should be added Sudan, for the conflict in southern Sudan is intimately linked with the conflicts in Ethiopia, and their dynamics are remarkably similar.
Somalia and Djibouti are Muslim and are, in fact, members of the Arab League, though Arabic is not the native language. Northern Sudan is also Muslim and Arab, but the southern movement is made up of non-Muslim peoples. Ethiopia is an ancient Christian Kingdom now ruled by a Marxist party, and its most persistent insurgents are Muslims. But in the Horn, religion is only rarely the issue: Most of the movements are backed by national or tribal elements resenting the domination of a particular elite--the Arabs in northern Sudan, the Amhara in Ethiopia, and the southern clans in Somalia.
Ethiopia's
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