In the early years of the Obama administration, Washington and its allies have trained their gaze upon the western tip of what Zbigniew Brzezinski and others have called the “arc of crisis.” The capture of several merchant vessels by pirates in the Red Sea and the failed underwear bombing of Christmas 2009 have prompted extensive media coverage predicting that “the next Afghanistan” will emerge in this region. Middle East Report 256 surveys the hot spots ringing the waters separating the Horn of Africa from Yemen.