A huge number of studies have indicated that future conflicts in the Middle East and Africa would be a result of water resources. Twenty five years ago, Ismail Serageldin, an Egyptian vice president of the World Bank, warned that wars of the 21st century will be fought over water not land or oil. It is not surprising that previous Egyptian governments and presidents have described the significance of the Nile water to the security of Egypt, and that any alternation to the distribution of the Nile water represents an imminent threat to the nation. In the 1980’s, President Sadat, for example, declared to go to war against Ethiopia if it attempted to limit Egypt’s share and rights of the river. Currently, in the face of disputed developments with Ethiopia over water shares, President Al Sisi, declared the readiness of the Egyptian army to defend Egypt’s national security inside and outside the borders. The decade long dispute over the Nile exposes the competing national interests and desires of two nations, Egypt and Ethiopia predominantly, although both states of Sudan are also heavily implicated over. This dispute has culminated, in the last…
Beating the Drums of War? Egypt’s National Security Threat and the Nile Dispute
June 28, 2020
