ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Cold War era in the Horn of Africa with the primary focus on Ethiopia as the main hegemonic/centrally located state whose affairs affected the neighboring countries and whose status attracted foreign actors, such both Cold War powers the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Ethiopia has traditionally been an important actor in the international affairs of the Horn of Africa. The Horn of Africa is a specific region in Sub-Saharan Africa as it has witnessed very diverse historical trajectories, external influences, political systems, ethnic clashes, religious hostilities, and/or military coups. The end of the Cold War had a serious impact on all major actors in the region marked by fall of two authoritative regimes in Ethiopia and Somalia, and the Islamist military coup in Sudan, which all changed the climate in the Horn of Africa and brought the sub-region to the new, post-Cold War era.
