@jolyonThe Trump administration has removed sanctions on Eritrea's Defense Forces and related groups, effectively undoing the penalties the Biden administration put in place back in 2021. Those earlier restrictions were tied to Eritrean troops engaging in combat within Ethiopia's Tigray region. The strategic shift makes sense when you look at the geography: Eritrea's coastline faces directly across from Saudi Arabia along a critical shipping route that the Houthis have been targeting for months. As the conflict expands and Saudi Arabia finds itself exposed right on its own coast, Washington appears to value having a friendly government nearby more than it values keeping those four-year-old sanctions active. It is a clear calculation that regional stability near this water takes priority over maintaining a file that has sat untouched for years.

@jolyonThe Trump administration has removed sanctions on Eritrea's Defense Forces and related groups, effectively undoing the penalties the Biden administration put in place back in 2021. Those earlier restrictions were tied to Eritrean troops engaging in combat within Ethiopia's Tigray region. The strategic shift makes sense when you look at the geography: Eritrea's coastline faces directly across from Saudi Arabia along a critical shipping route that the Houthis have been targeting for months. As the conflict expands and Saudi Arabia finds itself exposed right on its own coast, Washington appears to value having a friendly government nearby more than it values keeping those four-year-old sanctions active. It is a clear calculation that regional stability near this water takes priority over maintaining a file that has sat untouched for years.