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Iran–Israel war redraws the Horn of Africa’s security map The joint United States–Israeli strikes on Iran last week, which killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of senior security officials, have vaulted the Middle East into a wider war with immediate spillover risks for the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa. Iran has hit Israel and several Arab states that host U.S. military facilities — the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Jordan — while Hezbollah’s barrage from Lebanon…

Opinion/Analysis: Somalia’s livestock trade thrives without aid — and exposes the architecture of development failure By every conventional measure, Somalia should not have a functioning agricultural export sector. The country lacks effective development bank programs, European Union trade preferences and World Bank value chain projects. It has no subsidized inputs, no donor-funded extension services and no sprawling logframe tying every activity to a dozen indicators. And yet its livestock trade moves more than 5 million…

Israel’s recognition of North Western State of Somalia has jolted Somalia’s public square, igniting protests in the streets, on social media and from mosque pulpits. The outrage is understandable: for many Somalis, it feels like a direct strike at sovereignty and territorial integrity. But the larger truth can’t be shouted down. This moment is less a bolt from the blue than the culmination of long-standing vulnerabilities Somalis have allowed to deepen at home. This opinion argues that the crisis is a mirror, not a…

Israel recognizes North Western State of Somalia, setting up diplomatic ties and testing Horn of Africa alignments Israel has become the first country to formally recognize North Western State of Somalia as an independent state, a diplomatic breakthrough that immediately raises questions about how the move will be implemented and how Somalia’s federal government will respond. The recognition was announced Friday after a videoconference between North Western State of Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi “Cirro” and Israeli…

Jubbaland’s Ahmed Madobe warns Somalia’s president against centralizing power at Kismayo forum KISMAYO, Somalia — Jubbaland State President Ahmed Mohamed Islam, widely known as Ahmed Madobe, used the opening days of the Somali Future Council conference in Kismayo to warn President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud against consolidating power in ways he once opposed, sharpening a national debate over governance and inclusion. Speaking Thursday at the gathering, which he said was convened to address Somalia’s broader political challenges,…