Sudan recalled its ambassador to Egypt and sent more troops to its border with Eritrea on Jan. 15. The move came amid escalating tensions with Egypt and Eritrea, sparked by a Sudan-Turkey deal to build a military base on the Sudanese island of Suakin, a key Red Sea port.

Turkey and Egypt are far from the only countries seeking to establish a significant military presence around the Red Sea. As more and more countries bolster their military presence around the Red Sea, the threat of a regional conflict that could draw in at least seven countries continues to grow.

Alex DeWaal, a professor at Tufts University and an expert on Horn of Africa issues, said the situation involving the United Arab Emirates could be volatile; the UAE has a presence in the greatest number of Red Sea neighboring countries. In Yemen, the UAE has forces in the Red Sea ports of Aden, Mokha and Mukalla and the Red Sea island of Perim; the UAE also has a military base in Assab in Eritrea. Perim is located in the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and then on to the Indian Ocean. The UAE also has a military base on the Gulf of Aden in Berbera in the autonomous northern Somali region of Somaliland. These waters are key to international trade — 4 million barrels of oil pass through the strait every day.

Country after country is joining the scramble for influence in the Red Sea. This is part of the reason Turkey decided to establish the base at Suakin, said Dimitar Bechev, a fellow at the Atlantic Council and a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.