Camp Lemonnier Archives

Djibouti: From Island of Stability to Agent of Chaos?

August 31, 2018TesfaNewsLeave a Comment

BY AARON BROOKS | EAST AFRICAN MONITOR For the past decade, Djibouti has been a tiny haven in the Horn of Africa, mostly free from the tension simmering elsewhere in the region. This has produced an influx of investment that has turned Djibouti into one of Africa’s most important trade and military hubs.

Will Djibouti Become Latest Country to Fall Into China’s Debt Trap?

August 1, 2018TesfaNewsLeave a Comment

BY AMY CHENG | FOREIGN POLICY Djibouti lies more than 2,500 miles from Sri Lanka but the East African country faces a predicament similar to what its peer across the sea confronted last year: It has borrowed more money from China than it can pay back.

Djibouti Wins Jackpot – Renting Out Desert for Military Bases

May 30, 2017May 30, 2017TesfaNews13 Comments

BY EDWARD PAICE | THE CIPHER BRIEF China is constructing its first overseas military base just a few miles from one of the United States’ largest and most important foreign bases — Camp Lemonnier in the small East African nation of Djibouti. Five other nations have put up bases there, and Saudi Arabia will soon […]

Chinese Naval Base in Djibouti Nears Completion

March 2, 2017TesfaNews32 Comments

By Anthony Chibarirwe | The Trumpet, The first Chinese military base abroad is nearing completion, and the new reality is beginning to sink in: The new China is assertive and militarily advanced. After two years of media pronouncements and public relations campaigns, and after one year of construction, China’s naval base in the East African […]

U.S. Wary of Its New Neighbor in Djibouti: A Chinese Naval Base

February 26, 2017February 26, 2017TesfaNews34 Comments

By Andrew Jacobs | The New York Times, The two countries keep dozens of intercontinental nuclear missiles pointed at each other’s cities. Their frigates and fighter jets occasionally face off in the contested waters of the South China Sea. With no shared border, China and the United States mostly circle each other from afar, relying […]

U.S. – China Relations, Djibouti at the Center of New Cold War

February 5, 2017TesfaNews20 Comments

Djibouti may likely find itself at the center of growing tension between Beijing and Washington. By Ali Musa, With the arrival of the new US President, fiercely opposed to China, Djibouti risks being caught between the two great world supper power. The current sinophile position of President Ismail Omar Guelleh could in this context of […]

Washington’s Closest Ally on the Horn of Africa Has a Terrible Human Rights Record

July 11, 2016TesfaNews26 Comments

By Jeffrey Smith | for Foreign Policy, On the Horn of Africa, tucked between quarrelsome neighbors who receive the lion’s share of the regional spotlight, lies the nondescript and mostly forgotten Republic of Djibouti. The country rarely makes its way into international headlines — and this is exactly what the government and its allies, namely the […]

It’s Time the US Drop its Hypocritical Stance on Djibouti

October 11, 2015October 11, 2015TesfaNews80 Comments

By James Lessons | for OpEdNews, The United States has a well-worn track record of staying strategically silent about certain countries’ human rights abuses while lambasting others. Nowhere is this two-track approach more visible than in the small country of Djibouti, located in the Horn of Africa. Since 1999, Djibouti has been ruled by President […]