Biruk Terrefe

Israel to build base in Somaliland to target Houthis, says report Somaliland will allow Israel to gather intelligence and conduct operations against Yemeni group, sources tell Bloomberg

www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-...

What did people think Israel's recognition of Somaliland was about, if not this?

This was always going to be the plan.

www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Resharing this paper from a year:

„The Bab-El-Mandeb to the Suez Canal is part and parcel of our national security. […] If Djibouti becomes the theatre of global war, given the presence of all these military bases including of China and America, then we are trapped.“

Me too.

Please join the Northeast Africa Forum on 3 March for a book launch & discussion of:

Immunity on Trial: Ethiopian Courts, Chinese Corporations, and Contestations over Sovereignty

with author Miriam Driessen & discussant Hallelujah Lulie

*Hybrid event* Full details talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/3f3...

The growing threat of conflict in the Horn of Africa With no sign yet of a diplomatic off-ramp, this analysis explores the conflict dynamics that could lead to war.

www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/202...

The Horn and the Gulf: How a New Geopolitical Confluence is Emerging | African Arguments The Horn and the Gulf

A good overview and analysis from Ngala Chome on African Arguments from a few days ago:
The Horn and the Gulf: How a New Geopolitical Confluence is Emerging
africanarguments.org/2026/01/the-...

There aren’t that many cars in Ethiopia? Yes. What is the point you are making?

🚨It’s publication day!🚨

My book OCCUPIED REFUGE is officially OUT today with Duke University Press. Available to order from all book shops!

Upcoming book launches in Glasgow, Oxford, Nairobi and—perhaps—a city near you!

Read the introduction for free online: www.dukeupress.edu/occupied-ref...

How Ethiopia Is Embracing the EV Revolution and Ditching Fossil Fuel Cars Also: companies including Apple are quitely dropping ESG links to executive pay.

www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

In memoriam

It is with great sadness that the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa must announce the passing of our inaugural director, Professor Tim Allen.

You can read more about Tim’s life and legacy, and leave a message of condolence, on our website
www.lse.ac.uk/africa/about...

Ethiopia, Eritrea and Tigray: A Powder Keg in the Horn of Africa | International Crisis Group The risk of hostilities involving Ethiopia, its northernmost Tigray region and its neighbour Eritrea remains high three years after the last major war in the area. African states and outside powers sh...

www.crisisgroup.org/brf/africa/e...

Excellent! Thanks.

Sylvia Croese’s keynote on Gradualism as it manifests in political governance and development projects across Angola. Chaired by Biruk Terrefe #UTADo2026 @acc-uct.bsky.social

Is there any way to follow this conversation online?

If you’re in Oxford, go attend the movie and this discussion!

What a wonderful week we had at #UTADo2026 in Addis Ababa, hosted by the Urban Center. Looking forward to future editions!

The US is deliberately denying Cubans access to fuel and lecturing China on authoritarian supply chains.

Acclaimed Sudanese filmmakers pull out of Berlinale Co-Pro Market after visa rejection over “migration risk” EXCLUSIVE: The director and producer of 'Blue Card' previously produced Cannes award-winner 'Goodbye Julia'.

New scandal at #Berlinale. After Wim Wenders refused to comment on Israel/Palestine and requested the Berlinale to stay out of politics, now foreign office added next scandal, refusing visas for Sudanese filmmakers. A #Berlinale in Fortress Europe is not possible
www.screendaily.com/news/acclaim...

Standing ovations for this speech by Marco #Rubio at the #MSC2026? Rotten lot.

Please join the Northeast Africa Forum on 17 Feb for a book launch & discussion of:
'Peasants to Paupers: Land, Class and Kinship in Central Kenya'
with author Peter Lockwood (Göttingen)
& David Anderson (Warwick)
*Hybrid event* Full details & webinar registration:
talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/b8f...

Grounding ourselves through Yousuf Al Bulushi’s Keynote on Fanon in the City #UTADo2026 @acc-uct.bsky.social

Let the day break!

A lovely start of our 2026 UTA-Do workshop in Addis Ababa! #UTADo2026
@acc-uct.bsky.social

Africa • How Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem's networks steer DP World into Africa's ports The chairman and CEO of the Emirati port giant has a knack for forging high-level contacts to secure concessions in Africa. With the backing of Dubai's ruling family, he relies on intermediaries with

www.africaintelligence.com/the-continen...

Please join the Northeast Africa Forum on 10 Feb, 4pm UK time.
@delfmt.bsky.social (Lorraine, Nancy) will present:
'A New "Playground of Europe"? Exploration, colonisation & the naturalisation of Mt Kilimanjaro at the dawn of the 20th century'
*Hybrid event* Details:
talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/2be...

Define the „postcolonial state”:

Israel’s Military Now Accepts 70,000 Killed in Gaza – But Why Did Our Media Let Them Get Away With Denying It for So Long? I have spent the past two years debating the credibility of the Gaza Health Ministry’s numbers with supporters of Israel. It turns out the Israeli military agrees with me, not them.

Israel’s Military Now Accepts 70,000 Killed in Gaza – But Why Did Our Media Let Them Get Away With Denying It for So Long?

"It was all a lie. A performance. Propaganda, plain and simple," writes @mehdirhasan.bsky.social.

Read now: zeteo.com/p/israels-mi...

Ethiopian Airlines cancels flights to Tigray region after clashes Ethiopian Airlines cancelled flights to Tigray on Thursday and residents of the northern region rushed to try to withdraw cash from banks after clashes between regional and national forces raised fear...

www.reuters.com/world/africa...

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 receives record number of 17,058 proposals This year’s annual MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call has attracted considerable interest from the research community with 17,058 proposals submitted.

marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/news/msca-po...

The Material Geographies of the Belt and Road Initiative The Material Geographies of the Belt and Road Initiative - Infrastructures and Political Ecologies on the New Silk Road; This book explores the unequal ways that China’s Belt and Road Initiative, comm...

'The Material Geographies of the Belt and Road Initiative' - publicly accessible and out now! bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/the-material...