‘Our geography is our oil’: Why Djibouti hosts many foreign military bases

What Happened

Djibouti, a nation of under one million people with no natural resources, hosts the world's densest cluster of foreign military bases from the US, China, France, Japan, and Italy. President Ismail Omar Guelleh has strategically positioned the country at the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, controlling 12 percent of global maritime trade and 90 percent of Europe-Asia internet capacity. The US pays $65 million annually, France $30 million, and China $20 million for base access. This geography-based revenue funds infrastructure development and economic growth, with 85 percent of Djibouti's GDP derived from servicing Ethiopian trade through its ports.

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