ABSTRACT
The changing domestic and international politics of the Horn of Africa defy any simple categorization. The region is neither homogeneous nor cohesive. Its four internationally recognized countries – Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan – provide sharp differences in national characteristics. Ethiopia, Africa's oldest independent state, has yet to experience any form of democracy. It has virtually lost its coastline, as Eritrea, a part of Ethiopia since 1952, has assumed de facto independence pending a referendum in 1993. Somalia, the only Sub-Saharan African country which is comprised of a single ethnic group, has been torn apart by clan-based civil wars. In May 1991, Somalia's northern region announced its intention to secede, calling itself the ‘Republic of Somaliland’. The tiny desert state of Djibouti has no resources of its own, yet it boasts one of the highest per capita incomes on the continent; though less autocratic than its neighbours, since 1991 Djibouti's one-party system has been challenged by an essentially ethnic-based opposition. Sudan, Africa's largest country, is riven by a serious civil war based on religious, ethnic and political differences between the north and south; within the south, there has been fierce fighting between the Dinka and non-Dinka groups.
