Mekelle፡Telaviv, Nairobi, Pretoria, London, (Tigray Herald)
Washington’s Strategic Retreat: U.S. Embassy in Eritrea Among African Posts Targeted for Closure
In what may mark a pivotal recalibration of U.S. diplomatic engagement, the Trump administration is reportedly considering the closure of ten embassies and seventeen consulates worldwide, including several across Africa. Eritrea, along with five other African nations, has been identified as part of this proposed withdrawal, a move that signals a shift in American foreign policy posture at a time of growing geopolitical competition.
An internal State Department memo, obtained by The New York Times, outlines the contours of a plan to dramatically reduce U.S. diplomatic presence on nearly every continent. The rationale centers on fiscal restraint, echoing President Trump’s enduring objective to curtail federal expenditures. The memo also floats a separate proposal to cut State Department funding by nearly 50 percent, a staggering reduction that would reshape America’s global capacity for diplomacy, development, and crisis response.
Among the African embassies targeted are those in Eritrea, the Central African Republic, Gambia, Lesotho, the Republic of Congo, and South Sudan. The closures would see their core functions consolidated into neighboring missions, a logistical streamlining that critics argue risks diminishing Washington’s ability to build and sustain bilateral relationships, particularly in fragile or strategically vital regions.
The list also includes diplomatic outposts in Luxembourg, Malta, Grenada, and the Maldives, suggesting that the administration’s intentions are global in scope, not merely focused on one region. However, Africa appears disproportionately affected, a reality that has drawn criticism from foreign policy experts who warn of the consequences of retrenchment on a continent where U.S. competitors, notably China, have deepened their engagement through investment, infrastructure, and high-level diplomacy.
“The cost of closing these embassies is not merely financial, it is geopolitical,” said a former senior State Department official, who characterized the proposal as “strategic negligence masquerading as efficiency.” The memo itself acknowledges the risk of “ceding vital diplomatic space” to Beijing, whose diplomatic corps has expanded aggressively in recent years, particularly in underserved regions.
In Eritrea, the implications are particularly notable. Despite decades of strained relations and minimal diplomatic engagement, the U.S. Embassy in Asmara has served as a critical node for monitoring developments in the Horn of Africa, a region marked by strategic maritime routes, transnational security challenges, and evolving alliances. Shuttering the post may signal Washington’s retreat from a region it once viewed as geopolitically indispensable.
The proposal has yet to be formally adopted, and it is expected to encounter resistance both within the State Department and from members of Congress who see robust diplomatic presence as essential to American influence and national security. Still, the memo represents a revealing artifact of a broader worldview taking shape in Washington, one in which diplomacy is increasingly viewed as a negotiable asset rather than a strategic imperative.
Whether this plan ultimately moves forward, its emergence alone underscores a sobering reality: U.S. global leadership, long rooted in presence and persistence, may be entering a new phase, one defined not by engagement, but by absence.
Source፡ Horn Review
