The Horn of Africa Since 2018: Continuities, Transformations, and Prospects

This book takes stock of developments in the Horn of Africa since 2018, a key time of political turbulence marked by revolution, military coups, and civil war as well as alliances, peace deals, reforms, and reconciliation processes.

Bringing together a group of experienced and younger scholars from the Horn of Africa and Europe, the book investigates the various multi-layered and intertwined factors and consequences of political developments in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Djibouti, and Somalia. The authors investigate the endemic political instability across much of the Horn of Africa, while also reflecting on political continuities and transformations, including attempts at peace- and state-building. They consider the important role of regional organizations and intra- and extra-regional actors in the domestic politics of the states in the Horn of Africa. The book concludes with a section focusing on the prospects for reform and conflict resolution in the context of shifting regional power relations.

This book will be an important resource for researchers working on contemporary politics, history, and society in the Horn of Africa.

Jan Záhořík is an Associate Professor at the Department of Middle Eastern Studies, University of West Bohemia, and received his Ph.D. (African studies) at Charles University, Prague. His main interests are the modern and contemporary history of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, nationalism, conflict, migration-security-development nexus, Czechoslovak-African relations during the Cold War, etc. He has lectured at around twenty universities in Africa, the USA, and the EU. Recently, he collaborated as a co-editor and author on Routledge Handbook of the Horn of Africa (Routledge, 2022). In January 2023, he received an Award for Internationalization in Research from the rector of the University of West Bohemia. He has developed productive links with universities in Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Nigeria, Senegal, etc.

Aleksi Ylönen is a researcher and a professor specializing in politics and international relations in the greater Horn of Africa. Over the past two decades, he has conducted wide-ranging research in the Horn and taught peace, conflict, security, and strategic studies and international politics courses extensively both in Africa and Europe. Dr. Ylönen collaborates with individual researchers and various higher education and research institutions in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. He is a member of several expert networks and professional organizations. Dr. Ylönen has authored and edited several books and altogether over fifty peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and his work has also been published in various other scholarly and non-academic outlets. Dr. Ylönen engages in frequent expert commentary for research institutions and conventional and online media.