Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

Dan Connell

Dan Connell, the author of numerous books and articles on Eritrea, is a contributing editor of Middle East Report and a visiting researcher at Boston University’s African Studies Center. He is currently working on a book on the Eritrean refugee

MER Article

Peace in Sudan

When negotiations in July 2002 at Machakos, Kenya between the Islamist government of Sudan and rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) produced a "framework agreement" of shared ideas on the future of the country, Assistant Secretary of State Walter Kansteiner touted the possibility of

Dan Connell • 12 min read

Current Analysis

Peace in Sudan Doubtful

With negotiations between the government of Sudan and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) about to break off as both parties consult with their leaderships, UN and US officials express unguarded optimism that a deal can be hammered out to end the longest-running and one of the

Dan Connell • 8 min read

Current Analysis

Eritrea-Ethiopia Verdict Due This Week

The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission set up a year and a half ago to adjudicate a border dispute that left tens of thousands dead and the entire region on edge will issue its verdict on April 13. Both countries have pledged to abide by the outcome.

Dan Connell • 5 min read

Current Analysis

War Clouds Over Somalia

After two months out of the media spotlight, the war-ravaged country of Somalia is once again the subject of speculation about the next theater of George W. Bush's "war on terrorism." In comments to the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 19, CIA director George Tenet

Dan Connell • 6 min read

Current Analysis

Sudan's Opposition and the US

Secretary of State Colin Powell's recent four-nation trip to Africa produced a flurry of press coverage on renewed US interest in ending the 18-year Sudanese civil war. Despite Bush's nomination of a special envoy to spearhead a new peace initiative, the Bush administration's policy

Dan Connell • 7 min read

Current Analysis

Ethiopia-Eritrea Peace Process Creeps Forward

Two months after Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a pact to end their two-year border war, an agreement to move ahead with its implementation has finally been ironed out. The 4,000 UN troops brought here to monitor the truce are preparing for deployment to the contested frontier. Meanwhile, hundreds of t

Dan Connell • 4 min read

MER Article

The Importance of Self-Reliance

Shortly before Eritrea's declaration of independence from Ethiopia in May 1993, members of the Eritrean security forces arrived on the doorstep of the Regional Center for Human Rights and Development (RCHRD) in downtown Asmara, the capital. The center's director knew precisely why they had come -- t

Dan Connell • 16 min read

MER Article

What's New in the New Sudan?

The hum of approaching aircraft sends residents of this dusty rebel outpost scurrying for cover. The over-flights may be the United Nations planes from Operation Lifeline Sudan carrying famine relief -- or Sudanese Air Force Antonov-27s searching for signs of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (

Dan Connell • 6 min read

MER Article

Shootout in the Horn of Africa

A second round of fighting between Eritrea and Ethiopia in February found the political positions of the former allies little changed from their opening salvos the previous June, but overwhelming Ethiopian numbers -- troops and arms -- finally forced the Eritreans to accept an American-backed “peace

Dan Connell • 6 min read

MER Article

From Alliance to the Brink of All-Out War

In the arid, mountainous, north-eastern corner of Africa, two of the world&’s poorest but best armed states -- Eritrea and Ethiopia, allies until a short while ago -- are on the brink of all-out war. Shuttle diplomacy by a succession of would-be mediators has failed to provide an exit from potential

Dan Connell • 9 min read

MER Article

Political Islam Under Attack in Sudan

Through binoculars I can see clouds of reddish-brown dust billowing behind a Toyota pickup racing across the burnt savannah. A Dashka .50-caliber machine gun is mounted on its back. Crouched around me are a dozen guerrillas armed with AK-47s, hand grenades and light machine guns. The mood is casual, but

Dan Connell • 9 min read

Palestine on the Edge

Since Yasser Arafat returned to the Gaza Strip in July 1994 under the terms of the Israeli-PLO accords, many Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank find themselves worse off than before. Tens of thousands are out of work as a result of Israeli closures of its borders. Social services

Dan Connell • 12 min read