Ethiopian soldiers are seen on duty inside a trench dug on a hilltop overlooking the northern town of Badme.
#10. Déjà Vu in East Africa
In what looks alarmingly like the lead-up to the border war that killed 70,000 people less than a decade ago, tensions are once again building between Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea, with the International Crisis Group estimating that each country has at least 100,000 troops poised for battle. The conflict centers on the town of Badme, which a U.N.-appointed boundary commission awarded to Eritrea in 2002. But Ethiopia refuses to comply, despite having signed a binding agreement. Other countries are exerting pressure to try to prevent another border war, with the U.S. State Department recently requesting that both sides exercise maximum restraint.