Eritrea: Eritrea's Coming Crisis? How the Lifting of U.S. Sanctions Might Spell Trouble for Africa's Most Opaque State

[African Arguments] On 19 September 2026, the United States lifted its sanctions on Eritrea, one of Africa's most enigmatic and repressive states. These sanctions were imposed by the Biden administration in 2021 for Eritrea's role in Ethiopia's devastating Tigray War (2020-22). Opinions vary as to the possible meanings of their removal: is it morally permissible on the part of the US? Will Eritrea's inhabitants be uplifted by their departure? Is this a portent of a new US-defined political order in the Horn of Africa? Though