The Red Sea region is a geopolitical hotspot. It holds strategic maritime importance as a global trade transit route and plays a crucial role in the broader region’s security and economic stability.
Various actors are vying for influence in this important region. They include Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China, the US and Italy, which have set up military bases. Insecurity in the Red Sea region has a ripple effect on the cost of global trade. These military bases are intended to protect oil and merchant shipping.
With the interests at play here, the Red Sea basin has become an arena for complex global relations. This was especially evident following an early 2024 agreement between landlocked Ethiopia and the breakaway state of Somaliland to grant Addis Ababa access to the Red Sea. The agreement, which Somalia saw as an affront, has had huge implications that continue to play out. It sparked agreements that led to new alliances – but also tested old ones.
