ABSTRACT
Population migration is one of the most serious threats to peace, security, and the
sovereignty of nations in the post-Cold War era. A particularly volatile form of this
threat is the global refugee crisis, and nowhere has this problem been more severe
and persistent than in the Horn of Africa. While attention today focuses more on
West Africa and the Great Lakes region of Central Africa, conflicts between and
within nations have caused similar movements in the Horn of Africa for about
four decades. Huge numbers of people have suffered dislocation. Some have been
internally displaced, and others have crossed international borders to seek asylum
in neighboring countries. Governments have manipulated these movements out
of concern for national security, undermining the security of other states, and the
resulting diffusion of conflicts has invited intervention by powers from outside the
region.
