Djibouti

A quick word about a nice series of broadcasts currently underway by the BBC World Service (and also available via their website) on the African nation of Djibouti. Tucked away on the northern part of the Horn of Africa, Djibouti tends to be off the radar screens of most people not from or involved with the region – aside from a lackluster novel by Elmore Leonard last year, references to Djibouti just don't appear in pop culture. But Djibouti has a long history as a center of trade and cultural exchange between Africa and Arabia; today, its location adjacent to Somalia and the Gulf of Aden has made it the base of operations for a number of navies involved in security operations against the Somali pirates. For example, Japan has just completed the construction of a complex to house military officials involved in their part of the anti-piracy operations (Japan, uncomfortable with military exercises since the end of World War II, is reluctant to call the complex a “military base”).

The BBC has a correspondent broadcasting live from Djibouti this week providing some interesting insights to this remote and exotic land, it's definitely worth checking out.