In September 2007, Kjell Bondevik, a United Nations' official, warned that the border conflict could cause a new war. At the November 2007 deadline, some analysts feared the restart of the border war but the date passed without any conflict. There were many reasons why war did not resume. Former U.S. Ambassador David Shinn said both Ethiopia and Eritrea were in a bad position. Many feared the weak Eritrean economy is not improving like those of other African nations, while others say Ethiopia was still bogged down in its intervention in Somalia. David Shinn said Ethiopia has "a very powerful and so far disciplined national army that made pretty short work of the Eritreans in 2000 and the Eritreans have not forgotten that." But he stated Ethiopia is not interested in war because America would condemn Ethiopia if it initiated the war saying "I don't think even the US could sit by and condone an Ethiopian initiated attack on Eritrea."
