Djibouti
Republic of Djibouti
Member of AU, Arab League, NAM.
Population
1.1M
GDP
$3.9B
Capital
Djibouti
Government
Unitary presidential republic
Power & politics
Leadership, governance, and democratic trajectory.
Democracy index
2.7 / 10
UN voting record
How Djibouti votes at the UN General Assembly — ideological trajectory, voting partners, topic patterns, and key recent roll calls.
Ideological trajectory
Voting summary
No votes recorded for this period yet.
Bloc alignment
Bloc alignment data not available yet.
Top voting partners
Topic-level voting
Source: Erik Voeten, “United Nations General Assembly Voting Data”, Harvard Dataverse (CC0). Aggregated by Model Diplomat. Last refresh tracked in profile freshness.
Foreign policy
Bilateral posture, key relationships, and live diplomatic statements.
Foreign Policy
Djibouti's foreign policy is anchored in strategic neutrality -- maintaining relationships with competing global powers simultaneously. The country hosts both American and Chinese military installations, balances ties between France and China, and positions itself as an indispensable security partner to all. This approach maximizes base-leasing revenue and diplomatic leverage.
Regionally, Djibouti mediates between warring factions in Somalia and has facilitated peace processes in the Horn of Africa through IGAD. Relations with Eritrea have been tense over a border dispute at Ras Doumeira, though the two countries agreed to normalize ties in 2018. Djibouti's economic lifeline is the Ethiopia-Djibouti corridor, which handles over 90% of Ethiopian trade.
MUN Delegate Guide
As Djibouti's delegate, leverage your country's unique position as a host to multiple great-power military bases. You can credibly speak on maritime security, counter-terrorism, counter-piracy, and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Emphasize Djibouti's role as a stabilizing force in the volatile Horn of Africa.
Align with both the African Group and the Arab Group. Djibouti is one of the few states that can maintain good relations with the US, China, France, and Gulf states simultaneously -- use this flexibility. On security issues, support multilateral counter-piracy frameworks and IGAD-led peace processes.
Build coalitions with Ethiopia (your closest economic partner), Somalia (shared Issa Somali heritage), and Gulf states. On development issues, emphasize the challenges of water scarcity, climate vulnerability, and the need for infrastructure investment in transit economies. Avoid taking strong sides in US-China competition -- Djibouti's value is in strategic neutrality.
Treaties & memberships
UN multilateral treaty positions and IGO memberships.
International Organizations
Society & economy
Macro-economic snapshot and demographic context.
GDP (nominal)
$3.9B
GDP per capita
$3,430
Currency
Djiboutian Franc (DJF)
HDI
0.51
Top trading partners
Go deeper on Djibouti with Model Diplomat