Sub‐Saharan Africa: A Theater for Middle East Power Struggles

Stakeholder-Involvement in Water Resource Related Conflict Management in Lake Turkana Basin of Kenya

“…In support of the current study, many water related conflicts across Africa have been linked to external influence. For example, the Arabian community has played the role of interested player in the sharing of water related resource conflict in the African Mediterranean nations (Heibach, 2020). This has the implication that it is indeed fundamental to understand and map out stakeholders in any given conflict as they might just be the very inciter of the conflict or alternatively such a stakeholder to bringing up the much-needed perennial peace.…”

Transnationally entangled (in)securities: The UAE, Turkey, and the Saharan political economy of danger

“…In the following, we go beyond the focus on ‘great powers’ and the ‘BRICS’. Smaller actors like the Gulf states and Turkey in Africa have been subject to some studies, yet almost exclusively in East and Southern Africa (Berger and Eickhoff, 2022; Donelli and Gonzalez-Levaggi, 2021; Heibach, 2020). They are often portrayed as strategic actors who engage in Africa to increase their power and prestige on the world stage, in stark competition also with each other (Turkey/Qatar against Saudi Arabia/UAE against Iran).…”

“…They are often portrayed as strategic actors who engage in Africa to increase their power and prestige on the world stage, in stark competition also with each other (Turkey/Qatar against Saudi Arabia/UAE against Iran). The Gulf states, which in recent years have multiplied their investments, diplomatic ties, and logistics routes, are seen to engage in East Africa to secure victory in their war in Yemen, ensure domestic food security, and counter Qatar’s, Iran’s, and occasionally Turkey’s engagement in Africa (Heibach, 2020; Todman, 2018). While the UAE has become one of the world’s largest humanitarian donors, in particular its corporate maritime diplomacy and sea infrastructure that furnishes routes for trade and the transport of humanitarian aid, as well as security personnel and equipment, have been conceptualized as expressing a form of ‘circulating power’ (Ziadah, 2019a).…”

The Impact of Foreign Relations Between Sub-saharan Africa and the Arab Golf States on African Migrants in the Region

“…Notably, Egypt, Iran, Israel and Qatar were involved, while Saudi Arabia (Kohnert, 2023b). Turkey and the UAE, which seem intent on becoming key actors in the Greater Horn, are building a series of military bases from Sudan to Somalia, thus contributing to the ongoing militarization of the Red Sea (Heibach, 2020). Middle Eastern states have facilitated peace talks in, for instance, Sudan (Qatar, 2008-2011), and Somalia (Saudi Arabia, 2007Turkey, since 2011), as well as between Djibouti and Eritrea (Qatar, 2010(Qatar, -2017.…”

“…However, the Horn of Africa has also been affected by the security repercussions of the recent Middle East disputes. The intra-Gulf crisis, which pits Saudi Arabia and the UAE against Qatar and Turkey, has reverberated to the extent that the African Union discussed the spillover in January 2018 (Heibach, 2020).…”