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…