ETHIOPIA: THE CHANGING ASPECTS OF THE ETHIO-EGIPT WATER DIPLOMACY – KEY DRIVES, CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

Starting the inception of the 2010s, Ethiopia’s relations with Egypt have been experiencing one of the deepest crises in the relationship of the two countries’ history. Ethiopia, one of the upper riparian states of the Nile River not only theoretically challenged the exclusive veto power of Egypt over the Nile River but also practically start constructing one of Africa’s largest hydropower dams on the Blue Nile since 2011. The challenging behavior of Ethiopia over the Nile River worried the long-standing regional hegemon, Egypt. Against this background, this paper aims to forward a new insight into how and why Ethiopia challenged the long-standing superior-subordinate Egypt-led order over the Nile River. Moreover, in its discussion, the paper tries to address key drives, challenges, and prospects of Ethiopia-Egypt water diplomacy. The paper also illustrates how and why the Ethio-Egypt water diplomacy strain becomes a cross-cut on the two nation’s foreign policy matters. The paper has also attempted to understand how the superior-subordinate power duality approach works over the Nile River against the new balancer. Keywords: Ethiopia, Egypt, Relation, Nile River, Challenges, Prospects