The dialogues in the Horn of Africa inspire little confidence to resolve the region’s crises while U.S. diplomatic efforts seem insufficient in an area of strategic interest. It’s a matter of conventional wisdom that the crises gripping the Horn of Africa are fundamentally political, and that viable, sustainable solutions can be found only through inclusive political dialogue. But in both Sudan and Ethiopia, current dialogues—one internationally-backed and one a domestic project—inspire little confidence. The United...

Former U.S. Senator from Wisconsin Russ Feingold reflects on his time as U.S. Special Envoy for the Great Lakes and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other diplomatic roles he has held throughout his career. Welcome to Reflections, a bimonthly series of conversations that invites former senior U.S.-Africa policymakers to discuss difficult issues that they confronted in their careers with the benefit of hindsight. The second conversation in the series features Russ Feingold, who served...