Cutting Foreign Aid Is a Costly Mistake

 The Washington Post published on 17 June 2025 a commentary titled "The Retreat from Aid Is a Costly Mistake" by Eduardo Porter.

While the Trump administration has thrown foreign aid into the woodchipper, other Western countries including the UK, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden have cut development assistance budgets.  Their cuts have not been as dramatic as the US dismantlement of USAID, but the author explains why these changes are a mistake.   

The Way Forward in Somalia

 The Jerusalem Strategic Tribune published in February 2024 a commentary titled "Making Somalia Safe Again" by Staffan Tillander, former Swedish ambassador to Somalia.  

The defeat of al-Shabaab alone will not end Somalia's problems.  Strong leadership must also reconcile and resolve conflicts through dialogue in an effort to find a common way forward.  

Iran Said To Be Behind Plot Against UAE Embassy in Ethiopia

 The New York Times published on 15 February 2021 an article titled "In a Dangerous Game of Cat and Mouse, Iran Eyes New Targets in Africa" by Declan Walsh, Eric Schmitt, Simon Marks, and Ronen Bergman.  

Ethiopia's intelligence agency recently uncovered a cell of 15 people it said were casing the embassy of the United Arab Emirates, along with a cache of weapons and explosives.  Ethiopia said it foiled the attack, but did not indicate who was behind it. Now US and Israeli officials say the operation was the work of Iran.  

Zambian Air Force Procurement from China

The China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies published in May 2020 a policy brief titled "African Military Aircraft Procurement from China: A Case Study from Zambia" by Jyhjong Hwang. 

China has sold the Zambian Air Force 44 percent of its current aircraft and helicopter inventory.  The author concluded there is no indication that the increase in Chinese loans to Zambia is an attempt to gain access to Zambia's copper supply.  Nor is there any indication that Zambia is being pressured into purchasing Chinese aircraft due to its current debt held by China.

Al-Shabaab contacts with al-Qaeda and networks in the West

Germany’s Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) International Reports recently published a study titled “The Somali Shabaab Militias and Their Jihadist Networks in the West.”

The author, Dirk Baehr, is working on a Ph.D. on jihadism, processes of youth radicalization and strategies of de-radicalization. The study looks at al-Shabaab recruitment in the United States, Sweden, and Germany.

He argues that recruits from the Somali diaspora are today more useful for propaganda purposes and as suicide bombers. He expresses concern that al-Shabaab will develop into an international network.

Remarks at the 9th Horn of Africa Conference Focus on Somalia in Lund, Sweden

Here is the transcript of my remarks delivered today in Lund, Sweden.

Somalia and the International Community: Facing Reality, remarks by Amb. David H. Shinn