Gulf Strategic Interests Reshaping the Horn of Africa
As Gulf Arab states exert greater influence in the Horn of Africa, the region’s future is being reimagined.
Non-Resident Fellow, AGSIW; Journalist
Taimur Khan is a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington as well as a journalist who has written extensively on the contemporary politics of the Gulf Arab states and Pakistan. He covered U.S. Middle East policy from Washington and New York for The National newspaper, and more recently reported for the paper on the region as a Gulf-based correspondent. He received a Nation Institute Investigative Fund grant for his reporting on Pakistan’s role in the global methamphetamine precursors trade. His recent work has focused primarily on the Gulf region, and over the course of the last three years he has reported from across the Gulf Cooperation Council states on the cultural, political economic, and security effects of the low oil price environment and the geopolitical flux in the Middle East. His current projects include research and reporting on competition among Middle Eastern powers for economic and political influence in the Horn of Africa, Pakistan’s evolving ties with the Gulf states, and the interplay between Shia identity and politics in Pakistan and the current turmoil in the Middle East. His work has appeared in Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, World Policy Journal, Al Jazeera America, Men’s Journal, Critical Muslim, GQ.com, New York Magazine, and Devex.
As Gulf Arab states exert greater influence in the Horn of Africa, the region’s future is being reimagined.
On July 9, the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a historic peace accord and a set of trade and security agreements ending a long-running conflict that has been a key regional fault line destabilizing the Horn of Africa.
On June 28, AGSIW hosted a public panel discussion on GCC-Horn of Africa relations.
On April 8, a group of officials from the United Arab Emirates flew on a government jet from Abu Dhabi to Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.
On February 22, Djibouti seized control of the Doraleh Container Terminal from its joint owner and operator, the Dubai-based DP World.