Paper long abstract:

The Horn of Africa is located in a highly sensitive and strategically extremely critical part of the world. This strategic location constitute a locus of attraction of world powers, big as well as medium. This reality underpin the convergence of international powers in the region. Throughout the post-colonial period, the region suffered from interventions of major world military powers. The interventions include the Cold War superpower, US global war on terror, piracy and scramble for resources. Today, the region is the most militarised part of Africa. This geopolitically and geo-strategically driven world military interventions and presence partly explain the rampant conflicts and wars devastating the Horn of Africa. The conflicts, wars and low socio-economic development, in turn, render the region vulnerable to external interventions whether from near or distant. The paper analyses the role geopolitics plays in peace, security and stability in the Horn of Africa. It argues geopolitics constitutes a catalyst of instability in the Horn of Africa.