The International Crisis Group posted on 6 April 2021 a 45-minute podcast titled "What Eritrea Wants" with Alan Boswell and Harry Verhoeven, a scholar on international politics in Africa.
Following the political transition in Ethiopia and Eritrea's alliances with Gulf states across the Red Sea, Asmara is looking to shape the region in its favor. According to Verhoeven, Eritrean President Isaias believes the current conflict in Tigray Region is creating new political and security imbalances in the Horn of Africa that open the door to even more conflict. Isaias is a realist who primarily acts to protect what he has built in Eritrea.
