Straddling two continents, between the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, the Horn of Africa is of great strategic importance for Middle East geopolitics and, indeed, for the entire African arena. That's why the area is at the heart of an intense struggle between international powers and overwhelmed by increasing violence, dating back to its colonial past and up to the Cold War and the war on terrorism and novel forms of piracy. This book attempts to lead the reader through a thick web of persistent uncertainty and sudden alliance reversals and describe the main historical and political turning points in this region perennially plagued by fighting, famine, and civil war.

Matteo Guglielmo holds a Ph.D. in African Studies and is a member of the Contemporary Africa Study Center at L'Orientale University in Naples.