Is a Better Relationship with Eritrea Possible?

Posted: February 1st, 2017

By Seth Kaplan

Seth D. Kaplan is a Professorial Lecturer in the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, Senior Adviser for the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT), and consultant to organizations working on governance, state building, and poverty reduction. Kaplan is the author of two books: Fixing Fragile States: A New Paradigm for Development and Betrayed: Promoting Inclusive Development in Fragile States, which examines how to promote inclusive development and poverty reduction in fragile states. He runs the website fragilestates.org. A Wharton MBA and Palmer scholar, Kaplan has worked for several large multinationals, including Procter & Gamble, Compaq Computers and Komatsu. During seven years in Shanghai, he founded four companies. He lived in Asia for 11 years and speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and Japanese. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Israel Asia Center in Jerusalem.

The U.S. and Eritrea do not have strong bilateral relations. Ever since UN sanctions were imposed in 2009 and again in 2013, doing business in Eritrea, let alone having strong diplomatic ties, has become more difficult. Yet this country in the heart of the Horn of Africa could be key to fighting extremist terrorism in the region. The Cipher Brief spoke with Seth Kaplan, a lecturer in African Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and author of a recent Atlantic Council report on Eritrea, about the current political leadership and economy in Eritrea – and the potential for U.S.-Eritrea relations under the Trump administration.

The Cipher Brief: In your recent report, Eritrea’s Economy: Ideology and Opportunity, you discuss Eritrea’s socialist nationalist ideology that has caused it to pursue stable, rather than dynamic, economic policies. How is this affecting the country’s development?

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