The Horn Of Africa States: Sovereignties Under Siege - OpEd

An op-ed argues that the Horn of Africa’s youth bulge has been turned from a potential “demographic dividend” into a pipeline for recruitment by Al-Shabaab, ethnic militias, and state conscription. The essay cites that about 70% of the region’s roughly 180 million people—around 126 million—are under age 30, but says unemployment, collapsed education, and gerontocratic rule drive vulnerability. It links ongoing violence to internal ethnic fractures, climate-driven scarcity, and external meddling by Gulf states, Egypt, the United States, China, Russia, and Turkey, including arms and cash.