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

Djibouti, a country of fewer than a million people with no significant natural resources, hosts the densest cluster of foreign military bases in the world, including those from the United States, China, France, Japan, and Italy. President Ismail Omar Guelleh, who has ruled for over two decades, has leveraged the country's strategic location, particularly due to the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, through which about 12% of global maritime trade passes. As Djiboutians prepare to vote for the sixth time, Djibouti's geopolitical situation becomes increasingly critical amid tensions between the US, Israel, and Iran.