Analysis
Washington’s Turn Toward Puntland Signals a Wider Shift in U.S. Red Sea Strategy
Washington’s expanding security engagement with Puntland is increasingly being viewed outside the region as part of a broader American effort to secure the Gulf of Aden and the shipping routes connecting the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea.
Photo supplied by Puntland Signal USA Desk
A September 17 analysis in World Politics Review, written by journalist and researcher Jonathan Fenton-Harvey, argues that the United States is moving toward deeper direct engagement with authorities that control strategically important territory in Somalia, particularly Puntland. The article presents Washington’s growing interest in Bosaso as part of a shift in which counterterrorism, maritime access and protection of shipping lanes are assuming greater importance in U.S. regional strategy.
Read the World Politics Review analysis: https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/us-somalia-puntland-red-sea-houthis/
The analysis points to intensified U.S. operations against ISIS in Puntland’s Cal Miskaad mountains and the August meeting in Bosaso between President Said Abdullahi Deni and a U.S. military delegation led by Maj. Gen. Claude Tudor, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command Africa. Puntland subsequently announced an agreement to expand the American military presence at Bosaso airport in support of counterterrorism and maritime-security operations. World Politics Review notes that the Pentagon has not publicly detailed the plans for the facility.
The significance of Bosaso, however, extends beyond the campaign against ISIS.
Situated on the Gulf of Aden opposite Yemen, Bosaso offers access to a maritime corridor that has become increasingly important as conflict stretches across the Greater Red Sea. Houthi operations around Bab al-Mandab, disruption associated with the Iran war, renewed piracy off Puntland and concerns about militant networks operating between Yemen and Somalia have placed the African shore of the Gulf of Aden under greater strategic attention.
World Politics Review interprets Washington’s engagement with Puntland through that wider geography. The article argues that Puntland offers the United States something increasingly valuable: an authority with territorial control, security forces, a functioning port and airport, and direct access to waters connecting the Gulf of Aden with the western Indian Ocean.
