Sino-American Rivalry in Djibouti: What Impact Has It on the Existing Conflict in the Horn of Africa?

Abstract: Although the great power rivalry has dominated the International Relations (IR) scholarship since the end of WWII, the mainstream Global IR discipline has not well incorporated the thoughts of IR scholars outside the core Western countries (Achariya, 2014). More specifically, how this rivalry creates safe havens for authoritarian regimes in developing countries and how that nurses a vicious circle of war in many regions of the world has attracted less attention in the field of IR. This study examines not only the contemporary great power competition in the Horn of Africa but more specifically its impact on ongoing conflicts in the region. IR realism and post-colonialism are the most important theories employed to conduct this study. It is a topic that focuses on a current situation that has not yet been well studied due to spatial and temporal constraints. To fill the gap left by existing literature, the study relies on the most recent data that can justify the argument. It concludes that the fierce rivalry between the US and China at the system level is contributing to the exacerbation of the interstate and intrastate conflicts in the Horn of Africa.