At this moment China, France, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia And United States of America they have each one or more military installations to DjiboutiWest African country overlooking the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, one of the world’s main choke points. The list, however, could grow in the coming years given that also Russia And India have expressed their desire to open bases on this strip of African territory, while Germany, Spain And United Kingdom they have periodically stationed gods there temporary facilities. The stakes for everyone are the same: the dominion of sea routes exiting and entering from Red Sea.
Where is Djibouti located and what is its history?
Located in the region of Horn of Africa and bordered by Eritrea to the north, Ethiopia to the south-west, Somalia (or rather, the self-proclaimed state of Somaliland) to the south and bathed to the east by the waters of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, Djibouti traces the origins of its existence to the period of French colonization.
Although the chronicles have recorded a long series of foreign dominations interspersed with the rise of ephemeral local potentates, it was only at the time of the so-called “Race for Africa” of the second half of the 19th century which i French colonizers occupied the territory within the current internationally recognized borders. The colonial possession they established remained under the control of Paris from 1884 until 1977 first under the name of French Somaliland (from 1884 to 1967) and then under that of “French territory of the Afar and Issa” (from 1967 to 1977).
The local populations, Afar origin Somali origin (in particular of the Issa clan) developed a common national consciousness only very late compared to other African territories, and in fact the first two referendums on independenceannounced respectively in 1958 and in 1967ended in nothing. However, the third referendumheld in 1977was successful and the former colony finally obtained theindependence with the institutional name of Republic of Djibouti.
What are the foreign military installations in Djibouti?
Djibouti’s formal independence in 1977 did not change its international position, given that he was the country’s first president, Hassan Gouled Aptidon(president from 1977 to 1999) is his nephew and successor, Ismail Omar Guellé(president from 1999 to today) have remained in solid alliance relations with France. For this reason, Paris, even after the independence of Djibouti, was able to maintain an important base on its territory, a Camp Lemonnierpreviously home to the local garrison of the French Foreign Legion.
In the 2002while the French deployed their troops to other sites in the country, the Djiboutian government decided to rent the Camp Lemonnier base at United States of Americastarting a competition, still ongoing, between the great powers to grab a small piece of land in this small African state (overall Djibouti is characterized by an extension of only 23,200 km2so it is smaller than the Lombardy region).
The main reason that pushes everyone to “scramble” to win “a place under the sun of Djibouti” lies in its strategic positionstraddling the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and overlooking the Strait of Bab el-Mandebone of the most important choke points in the world, through which all commercial traffic passes through the Suez Canal and which consequently connect the Mediterranean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, Europe and the Far East.
What risk does the foreign military presence pose for Djibouti?
If, on the one hand, the foreign military presence has increased significantly the international status of Djibouti saving it from oblivion in which the end of Cold War had pushed it backwards, the simultaneous presence of so many countries in such a small geopolitical space risks turning into a very dangerous double-edged blade for the people and local elites.
In fact, when the foreign military presence was limited to the former French colonizers, the Djiboutians were quick enough to negotiate a relationship of privileged partnership. Since they started to appear in the area too Americans and Chinese (and, in turn, everyone else), the country began to find itself in the uncomfortable position of a land of conflict between the conflicting national interests of a plurality of great powers.
So far, President Guellé has managed to maneuver with great skill between the opposing sides, imposing himself with essential actor on the geopolitical scene of the Horn of Africa, but it is by no means certain that the situation will remain stable in the near future.
