Why Every Country Has Military Bases in Djibouti

Select video clips courtesy of Getty Images

Select video clips courtesy of the AP Archive

Special thanks to MapTiler / OpenStreetMap Contributors and GEOlayers 3

[Sirprincy]

Djibouti is basically a pre game lobby for all nations

[balpreetsingh]

America, China, France, Germany, Russia, India, all want a little of that Djibouti

[CapitanDonKarnage]

As a former US East Coast sailor, my ship visited Djibouti and Camp Lemonier in 2009. Got a hair cut and went to the NEX.
Then in 2010-2011 I got sent there to a mobile comms unit for about 10 months. Half time spent on the camp and the other half outside on humanitarian missions to Eritrea, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia.
Never heard of Djibouti before in my life until I went there and wow what an interesting country. Hottest place on earth, but the people are friendly and their music is great! Big fan of Somali music now haha!
The time I was there, Camp Lemonier was s joint forces base that hosted French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Romanian, and Korean forces. Was so awesome to interact with other enlisted men and women from those forces. I loved the 24 hour DFAC and gym on that base.

[TheSilver]

You have become a major YT geopolitical channel in the last few years. Keep up the great work 👍

[three]

With all that coast line I really would’ve thought Djibouti would have more seamen

[CYLITM]

Quick Summary: Djibouti may be small but is the only country controlling access to the main part of the strait separating the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. All countries nearby are hostile and/or under conflict so Djibouti's calm political situation and its extremely important location combined attracts important countries to control trade.

[IgorFranknstn]

My uncle was stationed in Djibouti under the US navy command in the 90s and said the reason why there're many countries with military bases in the country apart from protecting each country and their allies'interest in the country and surrounding countries like investments and oil, another reason is because the government makes money from these countries by leasing the bases to them.

[mikeylicksit]

great job on your analysis. you included so many facts which i didn't know, and i served in Dj from 2018-2019. really great stuff here.

[sshuggi]

Djibouti: "I'm playing both sides so that I always come out on top."

[djiboutian]

As a Djiboutian
Since our independence on 27 June 1977 the Horn of Africa was already in turbulence due to the conflict that was happening like the Eritrean War of Independence (1961-1991), Ogaden War (1977-78), Ethiopian Civil War (1974-1991), Somali Civil War (1978-now), Eritrean–Ethiopian War (1998-2000) and our own Civil War (1991-1994) and also other battles/wars happening now. Djibouti accommodated migrants and refugees with the help of UN and WFP because of wars and famine. The French Forces remained present in Djibouti do to a provisional protocol of June 1977 laying down the conditions for the stationing of French forces, constituting a defense agreement because of the unstability of the region. There are two main linguistic and ethnic groups are the Somalis and Afars. Although most Djiboutians are Somali-speaking, national identity is fairly cohesive, being rooted in a common historical background.

[DerperDaDerpa]

That transition between the 2 maps at 4:07 was pretty cool

[linat]

I know someone from the Tigray region who fled for Europe. It's absolutely devastating hearing how she has no idea what happened to a lot of her family members back home.

[jamalwashington]

The french airfield there is called Chabelley, and when I was there some unit made a shirt that said “So deep in Djibouti I’m in Chabelley” 😭

[ArAnXx]

now its time for RealLifeLore to establish a military base there too and conscript some of his viewers and station them there

[EnderPlayerTV]

They are crucial for the curiosity stream trade

[johnchege]

Nobody is talking about this two day video that has over a million views. I love Geopolitics and I was really impressed to find a channel that is so huge talking about Geopolitics. Great job.

[V.I.P]

Singaporean here. Thanks for the eye opening explanation. Everything makes sense now.

[santoro]

Love the channel. Unparalleled content. Amazing research and synthesis work. Only one issue: background music is distracting

[djiboutian]

The New York Times said that we will not going to last for two weeks in 1977. 45 years later we are still here. As a Djiboutian i am proud of my nation.

[nessesaryschoolthing]

This opens up a whole new field of Djibouti jokes related to the military. "I'm being assigned to Djibouti. I'll be entering Djibouti at 08:00. I'll be on sanitation duty, keeping djibouti clean. Djibouti is of key strategic importance. A lot of major players have had their fingers in Djibouti. We need to ensure passage through Djibouti never becomes obstructed. If shit can't get through Djibouti and ends up getting backed up, solving that problem might take a major operation and it won't be pretty."