Abstract
The 21st Century international system is increasingly proving to be highly competitive and globalized. The emergence of new centers of global influence as epitomized by the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) phenomenon over and above the activities of non-state actors, herald a paradigmatic shift in international relations, three decades since the end of the Cold War. It is within this context that various countries are seeking
to forge strategic relations both within assorted bilateral contexts or various multilateral frameworks and/or settings. Yet in such a world, the likelihood
of cooperation and competition turning unhealthy and morphing into the undesirable realm of adversarial and conflictual relations is not unthinkable.In this way, a thin line exists between cooperation on one hand, and potentially unhealthy competition, even deadly conflict as exemplified by the crisis in Eastern Europe, occasioned by the Russia-Ukraine crisis and its regional and global ramifications. Over the past decade or so, Türkiye and various Horn of Africa states have forged deeper and stronger cooperation ties. Nonetheless Türkiye, which is a formidable middle power in its own right, is not the only country seeking to establish new and stable spheres of influence on matters to do with trade, commerce and exchange among other issues of strategic cooperation.
This outlook of things calls for a proper sense of strategic direction in as far as the conduct of relations across states and regions is concerned, now and into the future. Against this background, this paper confronts the puzzle on ‘how best to ensure sustainable cooperation and healthy competition in a globalized world,’ by exploring strategic options in as far as Türkiye -Horn of Africa relations is concerned. To this end, the research will rely on both documented secondary sources and primary, first-hand data through interviews with purposively identified strategic actors, academic stakeholders and policy practitioners in as far as Türkiye -Horn of Africa relations are concerned.
