The Horn of Africa in 2022: deepening Switzerland's understanding of a complex political Region

• Forschungsstelle: AIS
• Projektnummer: 2022EDA03

Schlüsselwörter (Englisch)

• Horn of Africa
• political, diplomatic and humanitarian challenges
• conflicts and political trends 

Kurzbeschreibung (Englisch)

• Identifying main political and conflict trends in the Greater Horn of Africa region
  and its member states
• Understanding the significance of these trends for Switzerland’s foreign policy
  goals in the region
• Obtaining an overview of existing political and diplomatic engagements in the
  region by major foreign powers and international actors (stakeholder screening)
• Identifying options for foreign policy engagement by Switzerland in the Horn of
  Africa in light of the FDFA’s policy goals and instruments

Projektziele (Englisch)

Its overall objective is to provide the FDFA with a timely understanding of main conflict and political trends in the Horn of Africa region in view of informing
Swiss policy and diplomatic entry points in the coming years.
To deliver on this objective the proposed research will:

- Synthesize existing area studies knowledge on key political actors and processes in the Greater Horn of Africa region drawing on secondary and select
primary sources
- Produce short, user-friendly contextual country and regional analyses responding to questions and needs identified by FDFA staff (country analysis
papers)
- Consult with FDFA staff and select resource persons in view of identifying possible political and diplomatic entry points for the Swiss government in the
region
- Formulate recommendations concerning 1) Switzerland’s position and agenda with regard to the Horn of Africa as part of its upcoming membership in the
United Nations Security Council (2023-24) and for 2) the work of the FDFA special envoy for the Horn of Africa (policy papers)
- Socialize main research findings among FDFA staff in the form of a series of written analyses as well as interactive workshops