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A belt of active wars from the Sahel to the Gulf is colliding with record food prices and collapsed currencies
Sudan's civil war enters its fourth year with RSF forces besieging El Obeid and confirmed famine in El Fasher and Kadugli, while 33.7 million people — the largest humanitarian caseload on earth — need aid. Yemen's internal front shattered a four-year truce on July 3 when Houthi forces stormed government positions in Hodeidah, killing at least 30 government troops in fresh fighting. Iran's collapsed ceasefire has reignited Strait of Hormuz strikes, dropping transit to roughly 15 ships daily from 110 pre-war. Mali faces simultaneous northern, central, and western fronts plus a siege of Bamako. Haiti's gangs hold 90% of the capital as 1.5 million remain displaced.
The convergence is the story: the same geography producing war is producing starvation. Global food prices remain elevated, with vegetable oils at near-record highs, and the countries most dependent on imports — Sudan, Yemen, Palestine — are precisely those whose currencies have collapsed by 500% to over 1,000%. Hormuz disruption chokes Gulf food-import routes into East Africa and the Levant. Drought grips the Horn, Ethiopia, and the Great Lakes simultaneously, compounding conflict-driven displacement of over 26 million across Sudan alone. Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan signing a defense pact this week signals regional militarization deepening around these fault lines.
Watch items
- Iran — Hormuz blockade impact on Gulf food imports
- Sudan — RSF ground assault on El Obeid imminent
- Mali — JNIM western front severing Bamako-Senegal corridor