The most important country you’ve never heard about
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- čas přidán 20. 05. 2024
- The country that is turning into one giant military base
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Djibouti is a tiny country with no resources except for one: its location. China, the United States, and France are just 3 of the powers vying for access to the vital choke point Djibouti borders.
Special thanks to Max Fisher for story editing this video. Check out Max's podcast "Offline" with co-host Jon Favreau: • Offline with Jon Favreau
Special thanks to:
- David Vine, Professor of Anthropology, American University
- Sankalp Gurjar, Author of “The Superpowers’ Playground: Djibouti and Geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific in the 21st Century”
- Hassan Cher Hared, Journalist
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-- VIDEO CHAPTERS --
0:00 Intro
5:36 Geography makes history
8:50 Djibouti’s new reality
14:28 China builds a base
16:42 Local impacts
19:37 Geopolitics on steroids
22:58 Conclusion
About:
Johnny Harris is an Emmy-winning independent journalist and contributor to the New York Times. Based in Washington, DC, Harris reports on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the globe, publishing to his audience of over 3.5 million on CZcams. Harris produced and hosted the twice Emmy-nominated series Borders for Vox Media. His visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways.
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I covered the 8 years of bombardments on yemen
The way the UK/USA/NATO/UAE used Yemen as a testing ground to illegal munition like nukes , phosphurus and cluster bombs was sickening
To this day youtube is still full of combat porn of civilian areas bombed in yemen is sickening
Without Djabuti , NATO would have not be able to give the logistical help to UAE and Israel to bombard Yemen ....
Our taxes paid for 8 years of the UAE and Israel to test illegal munition bombardments against Yemen as just the UK sold in one go 30 billion pounds in military equipment to the UAE
If by "police the area" you mean " use it to test military equipment " and "launch regional instability" i agree with it
Important to whom ships can take a detour to South & dock to South Africa get suppliers & move on which is safer but little longer as they use to in the past.
I really love your channel can you do a series on China 🇨🇳 strategically buying farmland in the US (near military bases) and if this could be potential war on our territory??? Dr. phill did a show on it but I would love to get information from you
Exactly. Mr CIA is being cringey again
I was born and raised in Djibouti . Growing up we were so used to Americans or French fighters jets taking off a couple of miles from our high school that the teachers had to pause the lesson for a couple of minutes because you couldn’t hear the person sitting next to you. I moved by myself to the US in my early 20’s and been losing sleep at night knowing that my loved ones are over there and if shit goes south tomorrow there is nothing I can do about it. Shoutout to you Johnny for shining some light on my home country. Appreciate it Sir
Il n'y aura rien à Djibouti crois moi...
C'est l'Érythrée qui doit avoir peur...
Why not try moving your family to states.
@@akay435Or take your loved one to the US
@@akay435trust me I’ve been trying but the uscis is a fucking nightmare
As a djiboutien citizen we don’t have a say about who coming to the land or leaving its all done behind closed doors. The population is not even aware what is going on around them.
That's because they are too worried about getting their Khat.
Tbh I don’t trust the west as far as I can throw them, never a good sign
I can only apologise that we in the rest of the world have brought our geopolitical conflicts to your doorstep
Hope one day your land can be free, see what Niger and Burkina Faso has done
@@rewardharawa2680I’d instead look at Singapore. This is literally the most comparable yet so different country there is. Singapore has so many similarities and was poor just few decades ago. Focusing on bringing investors instead of just foreign armies should be the goal. But it sadly does need the foreign armies as Djibouti’s army cannot fight off its neighbours and doesn’t have programs to train every citizen like Spore or Korea does.
How am i only just finding this channel now? It’s awesome- great job!
Insightful and a visual feast to boot. I'm so happy to be subscribed!
People often forget that more than 90% of all the foreign trade is through shipments. These routes and canals are literally what's connecting the world into one giant market.
People don't forget that's common sense lol
Thats it was stolen from somalia 🇸🇴
@@quentincollins2567No its not cuz the "people" dont even think about it
@@Ficmon You mean western world. "Global trade" The houthis made their statement very clear they're stopping trade from western terror!sts. Stop the Genocide.
Wrong.
As someone from Djibouti, if I give my thoughts on foreign military presence, it's quite intimidating seeing these military bases with their soldiers armed right on roads and along side beaches in the middle of the city, where we commute in our daily life. We do hear quite often jet fighters with their bursting sounds as well. But it seems that we've adapted to it.
Thank you for sharing! I hope you have a good day!
How's education and hospitals over there??
I think yall deserve better that’s just my opinion America is dumb we can buy less shit sometimes
@ebenezermarboh5849 well, since the huge rents that the Chinese, US, Italians, Japanese, and French pay goes directly into the pocket of the President, his family and friends, they're crap.
@@joby10095 you from Djibouti??
This was a fascinating JH video for sure. Wonderfully explanatory tool around crucial geopolitics with really beautiful map explainers. Looking forward to a future sequel where you actually go to Djibouti!
The graphics and animating is incredible. Great reporting as well. Big thumbs up
How long do you spend making and looking at maps?
Jonny: yes.
Johnny himself probably spent 5 minutes, the rest was done by his employees
You know it's all for narrative show, right? He's not actually learning this shit for the first time on-camera. Sorry to ruin the movie magic for you 🤷♀️
@@tom.mp4 they didn't ask that. sorry to ruin your comment magic
He's a loner.
@@neanda They did though, he doesn't spend that long looking at maps.
You aren't seeing some sort of cutdown highlights reel of revelations he has while looking at maps. You are seeing him look at maps for the exact same number of seconds as he does in the real world.
Are you dense???
It's the only country that rhymes with "booty", you'd better believe we've heard of it.
I'm sure most Americans have heard the name, but couldn't find it on a map, and that's myself included before this video
Americans can’t find Utah on the map 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I was thinking about Jaboody Show/Dubs
Would you insert some great powers in Djibouti?
As an American, there are places in America that I wouldn't even be able to find on a map. 😂🤦♂️
Let's not act like it's only an American thing though. It's a big ass planet!
(I wonder how many places the North Koreans could find? 🤔) At least we still have our freedom for whatever that's worth.
Great analyzing! I’ve always thought ur videos are so fascinating. Greetings from Yemen 🇾🇪
Salute to your support for 🇵🇸🍉
Dude, your map animations are next level.
The maps are super helpful for illustrations for understanding.
Missed opportunity with the title name. You still have time to fix it, Johnny.
Why everyone wants a piece of that Djibouti
You’re welcome.
Make your own video! I understand what you are saying but Johnny's name tag of the video is more interesting
cos it's lame, not funny and literally the first dumb joke a bunch of plebs say to mock a countries name. Like haha turkey is a bird .....LAME
based :P
I thought the video was about Eritrea, a cool name, less heard of
loved it
2:41 “it’s a lot. Djibouti is a lot. There’s a lot going on in Djibouti” 😏
Giggity
Shake shake shake
Giggity giggity indeed
Jibouti's 90 percent of export is youtube videos
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Hey Johnny, I just want to congratulate your and your team for doing such an incredible job. You explain complex topics with splendid visualizations. I just wish I had a geography teacher like you :) Thank you
Great stuff. Just subscribed. And many thanks for the tip about Ground News.
I had a friend who was stationed there years ago. I asked him “what was it like?”
His response: “it was boring, but hey we needed to be there just incase things get crazy.”
😅With the help of USA, the world get crazy
i love it. I should have had your friend just say that instead of spending all this time making a fancy video that basically is saying the same thing🤣
Let‘s just hope it stays boring 🤞🏻
"It was boring. But hey! Now that we're here, hopefully, it gets interesting"
Never Say NEVER 😎 Justin Bieber
Thank you as always, didn't put much thought into Djibouti. This has opened my eyes.
😂😂😂
Great job. Thank you for your hard work and research
Been through the canal a handful of times for work... I learned much from your video. Thank you.
When I was in middle school I was in a soccer camp where we would pick a country to play as in a world cup tournament, I convinced my team to pick "Djibouti" and made shorts with "Djibouti" written across the butt of our shorts. Might have been a bit insensitive but I was in middle school and I stand by it was a funny gag.
Harmless and hilarious
That’s incredible
Madman 😂
Dji🍑
You win sir. You win
One day I will be mature enough to say “Djibouti” without giggling
Just turned 30, bet your as I still giggle from it..
I’m 50 - sorry friend, it’s never going to happen.
He said there’s a lot going on in Djibouti lmao 😂😂 I’m glad I’m not alone though
Me too😂 I’m 50 and clearly immature cuz the first thing within seconds of I sang out loud, “Get Djibouti on the dance floor”…and giggled 😂
It’s a windy little choke point.
Hey Jhonny! Love your videos! They are super informative and that's why I've been following your channel for a while now.
I would love to see a video on India and how startegic is India in the geopolitics of the world just like you showed for Djibouti.
Keep up the good work!
The editing style was a lot more crisp and enjoyable this video. I appreciated it.
Everyone's heard about Djibouti, but mostly because news anchors like to make fun of the name at the Olympics parade.
yooo
I sat next to a gentleman from Djibouti 🇩🇯 ion British Airways. We had a lovely conversation.
lolll
@@johnnyharris i love you johnny
@@johnnyharris why is google translating a misspelling of laugh out loud? I fig you are going laugh out loud loud loud but google is like "want to see what this word is in English? I click on it and it's just LOL and I'm like "wait...what langue is lolll for lol?* did google stroke out?
Please, please please continue to educate me. I appreciate you so much. I try and go to all of your sponsors thank you
This reminded me of a joke my friend made which was ‘Djibouti so big, it’s a country in Africa’
The wind whistles a forlorn tune as it blows across the dusty plain, the tumbleweed dancing as if making a last leap for freedom.
Keep your day job
lol
The joke is so bad it's good. Your friend is funny 😂
@@rayray8016 yeah lol
'HORN of Africa' is becoming more and more important because of Djibouti. And it also shows how important choke points are in critical geopolitics.
Somali peninsula* Djibouti is part of somalia stolen
Did you geography teacher ask you to write this for homework?
@@VALLAERION I think he was making dirty puns
Always*
@@skp8748 Somali Penisula is a small problem mate
When I was in Merchant Navy, our company was chartered to supply raw materials to a small island right next to Yemen and beside Djibouti which is hardly 12 nautical Miles. Its called Mayyun Island. Back in 2017 it was bought out by Saudi and UAE to build a port and an Airforce base, so it all makes sense now. and that small portion of passage is called Chickens Neck.
How about Mifia lsland? Small Little place that plays the whole world
@@AbeTheFakeSagewho’s being monitored are u yemni and djoubti is a western puppet state and the destoyrd Somalia for a reason
The island was stolen
what a way to do great journalism, love this
Never thought i needed this explanation
Never Say NEVER 😎 Justin Bieber
I hope you do go to Djibouti and talk to the people. I want to hear what they have to say about living so close to so many foreign bases.
omg thought the same... would honestly be so interesting! especially seeing how close people do actually live to them
Somalia didn't have a choice
The Djiboutian president is a dictator so from what I know it's not appreciated
I’m sure they love their western overlords who they never interact with and only see in spacecraft 😂 especially since they became so rich from it! (sarcasm btw)
@@MansaMusa_ll_of_Timbuktuokay "Mansa Muss". Since you obviously haven't made it out of Mali yet, let's help you out. China and Japan are in Asia - "the East". They aren't "Western.".
As for your implication that they are being guverned by foreign powers, well ... No. They would be very weak and vulnerable without the partnerships with foreign powers. They have essentially no agricultural ability or natural resources. So, it's obviously a good deal for them.
What is the alternative? Alliances with Arabia with it's political instability and Islamists? Warring Ethiopia and Eritrea? Somalia?
The Sultan would be smart if he reinvested that foreign money to develop a modern economy in the style of the UAE or Singapore.
Not that easy to do this video . Thanks Harris. We are learning more
Your videos are mesmerizing! Excellent journalism!
I have been watching for several years, and this is my new favourite video of yours Johnny! Thanks for sharing.
Here before this title and thumbnail changes like a million times.
max ad revenue
All the big CZcamsrs do this really, apparently it helps reach a larger audience
AB testing y'all :)
Many youtubers are doing this
Whatever it takes to make that money hoss
Stunning video Johnny, a treat as always.
Thank you, Johnny. This content is priceless.
That’s what I told my girlfriend “Djibouti is the most important country in the world.”
She said. "Yemen... And don't you forget it."
"Djibouti Call"
Omg geography jokes are so cheesy like beyond
Singapore: hold our Laksa Noodle 🍜
Oman this is getting out of control
i m from djibouti... thank you for well explained
What can you say about the citizens’ thoughts on the foreign military presence in your country
Do you guys have phones ?
@@faizanzeya8261 they do. It's serviced by Djibouti Telecom and when I was there I believe they were just starting to get 3G back in 2012 if I recall. They've got tons of shops in the markets with smart phones. I had a basic Nokia phone through them as well as an internet connection they ran on base that was terribly unreliable but greatly appreciated. Djibouti Telecom was getting some serious developments when I left, including their data center with a lot of new fiber networks.
@@faizanzeya8261what do you think he’s typing on
@@yashwanthchoudary8302 we don’t benefit from it whatsoever. Only the president and his ppl take everything. If someone tries to overthrow the government the west will immediately come in and stop the ppl who want good for us. I left the country but I visit quite often. I believe if we get great relationship with Russia and China they will benefit us more than the west. The west influence in the world is reducing so I just hope we get rid of these greedy ppl including the current puppet government. We have the same puppet president since 1999 that says a lot about the situation
Great content and beautifully and accurately captured. Learnt some new things and got confirmation on others.
Honestly love all the videos you do. To see what these powerful countries are doing in this current hostile time in a well put together documentary is so refreshing and informative. Amazing stuff and love the work 👏
Ground news is actually an excellent tool. Awesome sponsor for this channel
For sho?
Do they write truth about Palestine?
The only relevant promotion I'll agree with.
Loving the new edit style where u add short half quiet comments in between! It really works. 👌👌👌
Thank you 🙏🏽 for this awareness
I never knew of this place. Thanks for sharing and making it so interesting. It truly is.
Great video. Very informative. I always learn so much. Thank you Johnny
I’m from Djibouti, my grandfathers family owned many plots of land that the current US Military Base sits on. The government in Djibouti forced us to sell it.
Since many of you can’t comprehend an extension of the base let me explain, Camp Lemonnier was always there. There was an expansion in 2006 that lead many civilians selling their land back to the Djibouti Government so they can lease it to the Americans. Crazy how a concept of expansion of a military base is hard to believe. Djibouti is about the size of New Jersey, with about 3/4ths of that being habitable and suitable for human life. It’s the lowest point in Africa and one of the lowest in the world, yet a commentator wants to believe that Djibouti is a Greenland, which is comical as hell. I have notarized documents of the sale from 2006. I also find it hilarious that the other Somalis in the comments have no issue with this statement because is known amongst our people. Some random buttfock in Arkansas wants to tell me the story of grandfathers inherited land is quite hilarious.
Interesting, my family owns land in Borama right next to Djibouti
@@NoRockinMansLand saylac here
But I bet it was for more money than it would regulary sell. It is the same every where. Government want to build new road ? Someone will be forced to sell some land
Bro hows life in Djibouti?
@@DrIstoriswhich means what? "Oh, well you got money out of it," but you've also lost all your productive ability that was tied to that land. Can't use it for herding, can't use it for farming. Sustained revenues? Gone. Supporting ones self? Not anymore.
many thanks for your professional work ❤ this is the new media which we looking for (outstanding)
Man I love watching your videos. So informing
damn, this is the best sponsored ad i've ever seen in a youtube clip. Finally something your audience/customers actually care about. Thank you!
your videos are great, love the effort and dedication you guys put in the videos.
What's even more interesting is When djibouti kick out the UAE, they moved to somaliland, then they formed an alliance with Ethiopia. Ethiopia signed an MoU to recognise somaliland. This created a political tension between Ethiopia and Somalia. Somalia called it's ally turkey to protect it's waters. Taiwan is also a friend of somaliland. There is too much going on in this area .
Its simple somalis are somaliland, somalia, djibouti. Afar are from eritrea they have nothing to do in djibouti. they were no majority until the french brought them in masses. and ethopia only cares for ethopia, not to mention ethopia has big internal issues itself.
somalis need to unite and beat the terrorists only then will the horn of Africa be a new African superpower who can protect its border against forgein influence.
Djibouti moved to somaliland? You're clueless lol
A lot! I see the Russians have a piece soon in the region!
@@RobertECheck somali has always been a failed state since you were practicing voodoo lol
@@oih.1 wrong. Russia most likely will build a base in Sudan
You make this stuff super interesting!
Another knowledgable content .
AWESOME!! PEACE ON EARTH,
Very Interesting and informative. Never realized the importance of Djibouti. Great job and visually attractive maps.
oh lord, you really presented this one so well Harris, having come from kenya i know even understood into grain detail and imortance of this nation Djbouti
thanks for this video i learned a lot
First "sponser section" in a video I didn't skip through, Ground News may even be the 1st recommended app I download, thx Johnny, your fast becoming my "Mark Felton" for contemporary events.
first in a long time i havent also
Thank you for this!! I was thinking lately about Djibouti and wanted to learn more about it
😂😂😂
This is the high quality editing style that are synonymous with your videos, a night and day difference from the last video with all that distracting clicking asmr. Well done
I spent 15 months stationed in Djibouti on Camp Lemonier. We went into town all the time. There is a motorpool that you can just check out a vehicle to drive downtown.
hella interesting good work on this one
Djibouti has to remember that with great powers come great responsibilities
Great statement! That should be used in a movie or something.
This video was exceptionally well produced. I especially like the subtle half tone effect on the vintage map.
We worked really hard on that specifically. My team is the best. Glad you appreciated it
It's not subjective.... He ignored many facts regarding the reasons and what's really happening.
I think he ignored many facts intentionaly to avoid Zionist attacks and censorship by Zionists lobby. Or maybe he is just a Zionist )
Why you deleted my replay 😂
It's not objective, he ignored many facts regarding the reason behind what's happening and what's really happening.. Afraid of Ziоnisт attacks and censorship on his channel.... But I've feeling he's a Ziоnisт)
Excellent video. Almost everything I learned today, I had no clue of before.
Thank you for sharing this. I don't know Djibouti until this day and it's importance to the global scene. This opens up my mind to different perspective. :)
John, i love how you are presenting your videos. Your narrative is spot on. I've learnt a lot since being part of your channel.
Hi, thank you for the knowledge ❤😊
i absolutely love your videos dude
Amazing work
Ground news looks amazing!! Great sponsor!! 🎉🎉🎉
Great video - thank you. The tension between Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti over access to Red Sea ports is interesting and scary in itself. A video dedicated to that would be great before any sort of conflict breaks out.
Truth be told ethiopia deserves a port ,
Eritrea took all the port and blocked ethiopia from getting anything for decades , and Djibouti charges extreme tax ,
When there is a literal agreement signed between french n Italian colonisers to lease a port from ethiopian kingdom 😮😮😮😮😮😮😮 we hv like documents to prove that
Off topic: u look fresh today Johnny! Been a while since I saw ur last vid. Always learning new things from your stuff. Keep it up!
Fascinating video 👏🏽
I’m from that little tiny country ,proud for the achievements we made it. In 2000’s,Being young i didn’t know how important my country is when nobody knows it. I was just waiting you to give a look at the most geostrategical land .we need to be smart in this geopolitical complex thing.
Why Every Country Has Military Base in Djibouti - Reallifelore
Yep. One of the best channels on CZcams. The Saudi Arabia video was quite interesting.
that's a great vid! such excellent mapping and analysis. czcams.com/video/1S3PhfNHclU/video.html
@@johnnyharrisyou’re a vastly better CZcamsr Johnny
Djibouti has the best House Negro president 😂
Everyone seems to have an interest in Yabooty
Went through this area when I was 21 in the usmc, and we did training in both Yemen and Djibouti. I found it so interesting that on our way sailing to this area on ship, they told us the history and background of the area. Awesome video. “Gulf of Aden”
Love the info in this video
Asia's chockpoint (singapore) became urbanized while Africa's chockpoint is becoming militarized, WTF
Because they both had dictators, but one was benevolent and the other one not.
Geopolitics.
culture
Different types of leadership. One cared about its country, and the other one only cared about filling their pockets and family members'
*africa has more than 1 choke-point:
-djibouti
-(suez canal)
-(straight of) gibraltar
My fav Johnny Harris yet!! Thx
Keep up the good work Johnny
Fantastic video thankyou!
Thank you!
I heard of it, but thank you for the information.
The title was heard about not heard of
@@benjaminwinchester3408Real Life Lore did a video on the country
I'm surprised Johnny didn't mention the Somalia/Somaliland/Ethiopia tensions directly related to their landlocked problem. Somaliland is granting sea access and a land corridor to Ethiopia in exchange for a piece of Ethiopian Airlines and recognition of Somaliland as an independent state. This pissed off Somalia because it doesn't recognize Somaliland as independent. It's big deal and involves UAE and Eretria. He should have at least mentioned it.
Ethiopia is clearly in the wrong and they are exploiting Somalia’s weakness. When somalia gets its shit together the first thing they will do is march to somaliland and start putting people against the wall
Oh my goodness!! It’s like you are in the Utah national guard. Right before we went out to Morocco you did a video on borders. My friends two months ago just went to deployment to Djibouti! Thank you, you help me to make more informed decisions
I really appreciate you're hard research...
I noticed that the ads you do are actually things your viewers can benefit from and would specifically be interested in - thank you.
I love your documentaries keep it up
Very nicely told thank you
I've known about Djibouti for a long time. It's a fun word to say. Djibouti. I've known about this since high school. Damn near 20 years now.
Same, I knew it was Djibouti when I looked at the map 💃🏻 just to toot my own horn for a sec lol
Wow, look at you. Enjoy those anonymous thumbs.
My father and grandfather are from there, I've never been though, might make a trip soon
Couldn’t be a better timing for this video!
Love this channel!
@johnnyharris I have been following your content from a long time , thank you for the knowledge that you share with the insights . Request you to make a video on indian independence and events like partition and jallianwala bagh .
My buddy in the national guard just got sent to Djibouti for a year. At first I thought it seemed kinda random, but now makes a lot of sense.
As a veteran I know of Djibouti well
From going off base? 😅
Very informative
You make learning fun and interesting sir