Towards Democratic Hybridity in the Horn of Africa This piece is published under the platform of HCD’s Horn Policy Reference Group, established to catalyze policy conversation on pertinent regional issues by renowned experts from the HoA. Horn’s Democratic Landscape The Horn of Africa has remained one of the most turbulent and contested democratic landscapes. State collapse in Somalia, protracted authoritarian…

The Role of Civil Political Actors in Shaping the Outcome of the War and Charting the Post War Democratization in Sudan After three years of devastating conflict, Sudan stands at a critical crossroads. The nation faces the grave risk of descending into a stalemate in conflict. Yet it could follow the trajectories of countries such as Mozambique, El Salvador, Liberia,…

Reimaging Democracy: Beyond Winners and Losers This piece is published under the platform of HCD’s Horn Policy Reference Group, established to catalyze policy conversation on pertinent regional issues by renowned experts from the HoA. Legitimate government is arguably an enduring public aspiration. Democracy has come to represent the quintessential, if not the sole, source of legitimate governance. Indeed, even countries…

The Horn of Africa and the US-Israel-Iran War: An Opportunity for a Strategic Reset? This piece is published under the platform of HCD’s Horn Policy Reference Group, established to catalyze policy conversation on pertinent regional issues by renowned experts from the HoA. The war between the Islamic Republic of Iran, the US, and Israel has produced significant impacts on the…

Sudan’s War as a Turning Point: The Decline of Military Power and the Reordering of State–Society Relations The military, specifically the Sudan Armed Forces, has long functioned as a central political institution in Sudan, viewing itself as the guardian of the state and consequently intervening repeatedly in governance, most notably through recurrent coups. Acting independently, and at times in coordination…

Geopolitics in Motion: External Interventions in the Horn of Africa (HoA) and the Escalation of Conflict in Sudan The Horn of Africa (HoA) occupies a pivotal position in global geopolitics and geoeconomics due to its proximity to critical maritime checkpoints and passways such as the Bab el-Mandab Strait and the Suez Canal, which connect the Middle East and Europe. Situated…

Beyond the wars, conflicts, insecurity, famine, and recurring droughts that have long defined the Horn of Africa, the region is equally notable as the birthplace of the world’s youngest states. The Horn of Africa introduced two new polities to the international system within just four decades: Eritrea in 1991/93 and South Sudan in 2011, and potentially a third, Somaliland, following Israel’s recognition in December 2025, the first such recognition from a UN member state. While simultaneously rappling with numerous other attempts at state formation and secessionist movements, Israel’s recognition highlights the unsettled nature of state-building in the region.

Eritrea’s Withdrawal from the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development: Implications on Bilateral Relations and Multilateral Arrangements Since gaining its independence in 1993, Eritrea has often been characterized as a state diverging sharply from established norms of global diplomacy and political cooperation. Allegations of its involvement in financing fundamentalist movements in Somalia, unresolved border skirmishes with Ethiopia, persistent internal governance and democracy…