About this podcast
The Horn of Africa is in turmoil. From revolution in Sudan to civil war in Ethiopia, from Somalia’s political stalemate and the regional spread of jihadism to troubled East African democracies, the region’s pace and scale of change are difficult to keep up with. The Horn, a podcast series from the International Crisis Group, helps make sense of it all. Host Alan Boswell and guests dive deep behind the headlines as they analyse events, debate diplomacy and discuss avenues toward peace. Hosted by Alan Boswell and produced by Maeve Frances Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 183 episodes
- Bonus Episode | The UAE in Sudan · 44 minToday on The Horn, we are bringing you a bonus episode on Sudan from Crisis Group's Global Podcast Hold Your Fire!. In this episode of Hold Your Fire!, Richard speaks with…
- The View from Eritrea · 39 min · Season 8 Episode 5In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Reuters journalist Giulia Paravicini to discuss her recent visit to Asmara, Eritrea’s capital. They talk about everyday life in one…
- Ethiopia and Eritrea, On the Cusp of War · 40 min · Season 8 Episode 4In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Michael Woldemariam, associate professor at the University of Maryland, to discuss the conflict in northern Ethiopia and whether it…
- Bonus Episode | How Close Are Ethiopia and Eritrea to All-out War? · 39 minToday on The Horn, we are bringing you a bonus episode on the rising risk of war between Ethiopia and Eritrea from Crisis Group's Global Podcast Hold Your Fire!. This week on…
- Inside Sudan’s War · 58 min · Season 8 Episode 3In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Yousra Elbagir, Sky News’s Africa correspondent and winner of the RTS Network Television Journalist of the Year award 2026, to…
- Bonus Episode | Back to War in Ethiopia? · 38 minToday on The Horn, we are bringing you a bonus episode on Ethiopia from Crisis Group's Global Podcast Hold Your Fire!. In this episode, Richard Atwood speaks with Crisis Group’s…
- Bonus Episode | Two Shores, One Sea: The Horn of Africa and West Asia in a Contested Red Sea · 43 minToday we're sharing a bonus episode from the WASSAP podcast, where Alan joins hosts Désirée Custers and Hubert Kinkoh to explore the growing interconnectedness of the Horn of…
- The Houthis, the Saudis and the New Red Sea Politics · 47 min · Season 8 Episode 2In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Crisis Group’s Arabian Peninsula director Yasmine Farouk and senior Yemen analyst Ahmed Nagi to explore why Yemen’s truce is…
- Somalia’s End-of-year Cliffhanger · 32 min · Season 8 Episode 1This week on The Horn, Alan talks with Samira Gaid, founder and senior analyst at the Mogadishu-based think tank Balqiis, about the possible end of UNSOS, the UN logistics…
- Sudan’s Separation Fifteen Years Ago and Today’s Disaster · 1 h 0 min · Season 7 Episode 20This week on The Horn, Alan speaks with Alex de Waal and Abdul Mohammed, former senior officials for the African Union’s mediation team, on how the split between Sudan and South…
- Is Ethiopia Sliding Toward a New Tigray War? · 41 min · Season 7 Episode 19In this episode of The Horn, Alan speaks with Payton Knopf about the rising risk of renewed war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more…
- The Scramble for the Red Sea Is Not Cooling Down · 41 min · Season 7 Episode 18In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by scholar Federico Donelli, author of the recent book Power Competition in the Red Sea, to assess the shifting geopolitics of the Red…
- Mediating the Horn’s Wars: An Exit Interview · 33 min · Season 7 Episode 17In this episode of The Horn, Alan speaks with Babatunde Afolabi, former Africa Director at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), now Director of Political Affairs at the…
- Tiny Djibouti, and Its Prime Real Estate · 27 min · Season 7 Episode 16In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by scholar and author Samson Abebe Bezabeh, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, to discuss Djibouti’s domestic politics and…
- Sudan, and a Region and World in Upheaval · 36 min · Season 7 Episode 15In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by journalist and author Nesrine Malik. They take stock of Sudan’s war after more than three years of fighting and consider where the…
- Somalia’s Election Standoff and New Inflection Point · 36 min · Season 7 Episode 14In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Omar Mahmood, Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst for Somalia and the Horn of Africa, to discuss the deeper implications of Somalia’s new…
- Bonus Episode: After Three Years of War in Sudan, What Hope for a Ceasefire? · 42 minToday we're bringing you a bonus episode on Sudan from Crisis Group's Global Podcast Hold Your Fire!. In this episode of Hold Your Fire!, Richard is joined by Crisis Group’s…
- How the Iran War is Reshaping the Region · 37 min · Season 7 Episode 13In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Hafsa Halawa, an independent political analyst and mediation specialist, to discuss the fallout of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran…
- What’s Really Going on in the Horn? · 36 min · Season 7 Episode 12In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Moses Chrispus Okello, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Security Studies, to unpack the common forces driving instability…
- Behind the Saudi-Emirati Rift · 38 min · Season 7 Episode 11In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by H. A. Hellyer, Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and Senior Fellow at the Center for American…
- Bonus Episode: Will Ethiopia and Eritrea Start a Regional War? · 45 minToday we're bringing you a bonus from Crisis Group's Global Podcast Hold Your Fire!. In this episode of Hold Your Fire!, Richard speaks with Crisis Group Africa director Murithi…
- Israel, Somaliland and the Horn · 27 min · Season 7 Episode 10In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Asher Lubotzky, senior research fellow at the Israel-Africa Relations Institute, to discuss Israel’s recognition of Somaliland and…
- Uganda after Museveni · 35 min · Season 7 Episode 9In this episode of The Horn, Alan speaks with Kristof Titeca, professor at the Institute of Development Policy at the University of Antwerp, to talk about Uganda’s post-election…
- The Rupture in the Gulf, and its Fallout · 35 min · Season 7 Episode 8In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Crisis Group experts Yasmine Farouk, Omar Mahmood and Shewit Woldemichael. He first speaks with Yasmine about what is behind the…
- The Ethiopia-Eritrea Standoff · 39 min · Season 7 Episode 7In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Michael Woldemariam, associate professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, to unpack the escalating tensions…
- Bonus Episode: Reflecting on Sudan’s Collapse and Elusive Peace · 59 minThis week on The Horn, we post a recent discussion between Crisis Group’s CEO and President, Comfort Ero, and leading expert Alex de Waal, about ongoing efforts to bring Sudan’s…
- Global Disorder, Horn of Africa Turmoil. Can Europe Keep Up? · 38 min · Season 7 Episode 6In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Heiko Nitzschke, Germany’s special envoy for the Horn of Africa, to discuss whether and how Europe needs to adapt its approach…
- The El Fasher Atrocities · 29 min · Season 7 Episode 5In this episode of The Horn, Alan speaks with Julia Steers, investigations editor at Lighthouse Reports, about the large-scale atrocities that took place in Darfur’s El Fasher…
- Mediators’ Brave New World · 43 min · Season 7 Episode 4In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Timur Söylemez, former ambassador and former head of the mediation unit at Türkiye’s foreign ministry, to discuss the evolving…
- Bonus Episode: What Does the RSF’s Seizure of El Fasher Mean for Sudan’s War? · 25 minToday we're bringing you a bonus episode on the fall of El Fasher in Sudan from Crisis Group's Global Podcast Hold Your Fire!. In this update episode of Hold Your Fire!, Richard…
- The Trial of South Sudan’s Vice President Riek Machar · 34 min · Season 7 Episode 3In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Edmund Yakani, executive director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, to discuss the trial of South Sudan’s…
- Bonus Episode: Can a U.S.-Arab Roadmap Stop Sudan’s War? · 47 minToday we're bringing you a bonus episode on Sudan from Crisis Group's Global Podcast Hold Your Fire!. In this episode of Hold Your Fire!, Richard talks with Crisis Group’s Sudan…
- Ethiopia’s Grand and Contested Dam · 40 min · Season 7 Episode 2In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Crisis Group’s Africa Program Director, Murithi Mutiga, to discuss the inauguration of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)…
- Dr. Comfort Ero on the Future of Peacemaking · 33 min · Season 7 Episode 1In this episode of The Horn, marking Crisis Group’s 30th anniversary, Alan Boswell speaks with president & CEO Comfort Ero about how the landscape of peacemaking has evolved…
- Peacekeeping is Dying. Long Live Peacekeeping? · 31 min · Season 6 Episode 20This week on The Horn, Alan Boswell sits down with Samira Gaid, founder and senior analyst at the Mogadishu-based think tank Balqiis Insights, and Fred Bauma, human rights…
- What Does Sudan’s RSF Want? · 32 min · Season 6 Episode 19In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by analyst and researcher Sarra Majdoub to take a closer look at Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their evolving…
- Bonus Episode: The DR Congo-Rwanda Deal, Trump’s Mediation and African Politics · 49 minToday, we're bringing you a bonus episode on the DR Congo-Rwanda peace deal and U.S. engagement in Africa from Crisis Group's Global Podcast Hold Your Fire!. In this episode of…
- Somaliland’s Moment? · 30 min · Season 6 Episode 18This week on The Horn, Alan is joined by Guleid Ahmed Jama, a Hargeisa-based lawyer and political commentator, to discuss Somaliland’s push for recognition. They revisit…
- As South Sudan Quakes, an Heir Apparent Rises · 29 min · Season 6 Episode 17This week on The Horn, Alan speaks with Daniel Akech, Crisis Group’s senior analyst for South Sudan, about the deepening political crisis in South Sudan and looming questions…
- The New Scramble for Peace (and Minerals) in DR Congo · 50 min · Season 6 Episode 16In this episode of The Horn, Alan Boswell is joined by Richard Moncrieff, Crisis Group’s Great Lakes project director, to discuss the state of the war in the eastern Democratic…
- Any Hope Left for Diplomacy in Sudan? · 25 min · Season 6 Episode 15In this episode of The Horn, Alan Boswell is joined by Abdul Mohammed, who has worked on Sudan for many years, including as a senior official in the UN and African Union. They…
- Sudan’s Two Years of Hell · 35 min · Season 6 Episode 14In this episode of The Horn, Alan Boswell is joined by Sudanese civil society activist and political commentator Dallia Mohamed Abdelmoniem. They discuss her flight from Khartoum…
- A Region in Spiral, a World in Tumult · 40 min · Season 6 Episode 13In this episode of The Horn, Alan Boswell is joined by Annette Weber, the European Union’s Special Representative for the Horn of Africa. They discuss how the first months of…
- Bonus Episode: South Sudan on the Brink of Another War · 45 minToday we're bringing you a bonus episode on South Sudan from Crisis Group's Global Podcast Hold Your Fire!. In this episode of Hold Your Fire!, Richard is joined by Crisis…
- Which Way Will Trump Go on Somalia? · 47 min · Season 6 Episode 12In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Omar Mahmood, Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst for Somalia and the Horn of Africa to discuss Somalia’s uncertain new global context…
- Ethiopia and Eritrea, On a Collision Course · 38 min · Season 6 Episode 11In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Michael Woldemariam, associate professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, to discuss the risk of renewed…
- The Aid System is Collapsing. Now What? · 27 min · Season 6 Episode 10In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Sara Pantuliano, Chief Executive Officer of ODI Global, to discuss the Trump administration’s sudden halting of most foreign aid…
- Bonus Episode: A Decisive Turn in Sudan’s War? · 50 minToday we're bringing you a bonus episode on Sudan from Crisis Group's Global Podcast Hold Your Fire!. In this episode of Hold Your Fire!, Richard Atwood is joined by Crisis…
- Trump’s Aid Cuts and What Africa Should Expect Next · 43 min · Season 6 Episode 9In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Joshua Meservey, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s Africa policy. They examine the…
- The Race for AU Chair: Power, Politics, and Influence · 28 min · Season 6 Episode 8In this episode of The Horn, guest host Nazanine Moshiri is joined by Liesl Louw-Vaudran, Crisis Group’s Senior Advisor to the African Union (AU), to talk about the upcoming…
