Embracing Nationalism in East Africa

On September 16th outside of Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, leaders of the once exiled Oromo Liberation Front gathered. Scores of supporters came to show their support, and they had not forgotten one thing: the other ethnic tribes in the region were the ones that had displaced them. Some of the supporters began attacking non-Oromo people, […]

The Ghost of Zheng He: China’s Naval Base in Djibouti

Six hundred years after the Ming Dynasty explorer Zheng He landed in Mombasa and brought back a giraffe, China’s trade presence in East Africa is very much alive. In recent years, China has been expanding a web of infrastructure projects across the African continent. Now, China is in the process of constructing a naval base […]

A Failed State No More: Somalia’s Waning War

Sleek Boeing 737-800s operated by Turkish Airlines fly into Mogadishu’s gleaming new international airport as patients flock to the recently refurbished Erdoan hospital, the best-equipped medical center in East Africa. Al-Shabaab, the Al-Qaeda affiliate that has terrorized Somalia for eight years, is in tatters and on the run from a legitimate federal government that is […]