Introduction
Bab el-Mandeb is not just a chokepoint but an intersection of competing interests of the littoral states across the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Horn of Africa. The strait is surrounded by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and Yemen, each with distinct and conflicting interests. The region has become a fragmented strategic space engulfed in long-standing sectarian conflicts, civil wars, weak governance, interstate rivalries, and territorial disputes. Non-state actors like the Houthis and the Southern Transitional Council in Yemen, Al-Shabaab in Somalia, and Darfur Armed militias in Sudan further make the region politically unstable. The pursuit of ports, military access, and a commercial foothold in the region has brought Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Egypt into conflict. The competition is to gain control over ports like Berbera (Somaliland), Bosaso (Puntland), Assab and Djibouti. These regional rivalries have been threatening the international shipping routes in the Red Sea, leading to increased military presence of extra-regional countries like the US (Camp Lemonnier military base), China (PLA support base), Japan (SDF base near Ambouli), Italy (BMIS, Amedeo Guillet), France (Heron naval base), and India to protect and support maritime traffic to and from Asia and Africa to Europe.
