Regional power struggles fuel simmering tensions across the Red Sea

Regional power struggles fuel simmering tensions across the Red Sea

Narratives of historical entitlement to Eritrea’s port of Assab have gained traction in Ethiopia, mobilizing the population around a nationalist agenda, and Addis Ababa and Asmara are increasingly locked in a tense standoff. Yet, a direct confrontation between the two governments remains unlikely. The Ethiopian government has pulled its forces back from positions where their troops could come into direct contact, and Eritrea cannot risk a confro…