Battle AFRICOM

The greater part of Eritrea's modern history is characterized by conflicts that have severely damaged an economy based largely on subsistence agriculture. Economic woes have been exacerbated by the recent implementation of restrictive economic policies. Today, few private enterprises remain in Eritrea, as the one-party government looks to the military and party-owned businesses to boost development.

Scarred by decades of conflict and occupation, the craggy African nation of Eritrea has weathered the world's longest-running guerrilla war. The dogged determination that secured victory against Ethiopia, its giant neighbor, is woven into the national psyche, the product of cynical foreign interventions. Fascist Italy wanted Eritrea as the springboard for a new, racially pure Roman empire; Britain sold off its industry for scrap; the United States needed a base for its state-of-the-art spy station; and the Soviet Union used it as a pawn in a proxy war.