Donald Yamamoto is the new US Ambassador to Somalia. Somalia got so lucky!

[Voltage]

Yamamoto is one of the top most respected foreign policy voices in Washington D.C and the SINGLE most respected voice on Africa. He recently brought together the South Sudanese leadership to make peace between Salva Kiir and Rick Machar and right before that was the first US official to visit Eritrea in over a decade setting the ground game for the Ethio-Eritrea peace talks.

Yamamoto for a long time headed the Bureau of African Affairs in the State Department as Assistant Secretary of State for Africansetting policy for all the ambassadors to Africa. This is a guy that should be sent to Nigeria, South Africa, etc for an ambassador.

Somalia got him and how lucky is that. Him and Wendy Sherman were instrumental in changing policy towards Somalia during the Obama Administration. Those two fought hard to remove the policy of "containment" and start "engagement" including naming the first US Ambassador to Somalia since 1991. Now Yamamoto will be the 2nd Ambassador to Somalia.

This is a guy that will likely become US Secretary of State in the future. That's how respected he is.

This guy is the Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, a post considerably higher than an Ambassadorship. For him to take on this role means he probably lobbied and wanted to be sent to Somalia. Somalia has always been a huge interest for him and his old boss Wendy Sherman who most likely WILL BE US Secretary of State under the next Democrat President.

[Kismaayo21]

He is a former Ethiopian and Eritrean Ambassador. There’s a lot of political power shifting in east Africa namingly Farmaajo and Abiy’s recently being appointed as head of states. Somalia is consolidating internal power and Ethiopia is making peace with long time deadly rival Eritrea. So they need this guy who knows all the classified information from that region

[jalaaludin5]

Why was my comment deleted? I wish President Kheyre and the new ambassador all the best.

[original dervish]

If America wanted to solve the problems in Somalia they could easily do it.
I don't think the Americans want to change the current stalemate.

[KingMX]

nobody can solve the somali issues except ourselves and if you think one diplomat can solve our issues im sorry to disappoint you