The Berbera Port in Somaliland, located on the Gulf of Aden, on August 21, 2024. Ethiopian recognition of Somaliland may ease tensions in the Horn of Africa. (Shutterstock/Abdulkadir Hirabe)

Why the US Should Encourage Ethiopian Recognition of Somaliland

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Revisiting a recognition agreement could limit bloodshed in the Horn of Africa—but Washington must first facilitate diplomacy.

The Horn of Africa risks a new war amid an intense power struggle between the Ethiopian federal government and the separatist Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in the Tigray Region. As Ethiopia renews its push for Red Sea access, clashes with the TPLF risk expanding into a broader confrontation with Eritrea. Further conflict in the Horn of Africa would be a strategic disaster for the West, cementing the influence of regional powers in an already sensitive maritime corridor. 

Revisiting Ethiopian recognition of Somaliland could address Ethiopia’s Red Sea insecurity and reduce the spread of violence. Decisive action is needed from Washington, however, to encourage this dormant solution in the face of local opposition.

Unrest in Tigray has intensified as the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front compete to secure control of the region. Tigray, Ethiopia’s northernmost state bordering Eritrea, was the epicenter of a brutal war between 2020 and 2022: the 2022 Pretoria Agreement aimed to end the conflict, yet disagreements over power-sharing persisted.

By May 2026, the TPLF reinstated the pre-war Tigray regional council—a move that deepened the rift with the central government under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Recent reports have emerged of forced civilian recruitment by the TPLF-aligned Tigray Defense Force, as fears of renewed fighting rise.

This ongoing crisis has provoked renewed hostilities between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Despite a brief alliance against the TPLF in the Tigray War, relations are once again strained. Addis Ababa has accused Asmara of backing the TPLF, a cooperation that is indeed likely to materialize should civil war break out.

Underpinning accusations of collusion lies a deeper source of tension—the Red Sea. The secession of Eritrea in 1993 left Ethiopia landlocked, a loss that continues to sour Ethiopia’s politics, both domestically and diplomatically. Abiy Ahmed’s increasingly urgent calls for access to the coastline have fueled........

© The National Interest