{"id":5105,"date":"2026-10-01T13:47:04","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T13:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/?p=5105"},"modified":"2026-10-01T13:47:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T13:47:29","slug":"the-greedy-and-delusional-camel-%e1%8d%a1-from-the-dam-to-the-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/the-greedy-and-delusional-camel-%e1%8d%a1-from-the-dam-to-the-sea\/","title":{"rendered":"The Greedy and Delusional Camel \u1361 From the Dam to the Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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AMN PLUS-October 1, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Egypt’s geopolitical strategy in East Africa and the Horn of Africa is primarily linked to its national security concerns and its water share of the Nile River. The completion of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) by Ethiopia and the country’s recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Somaliland for sea access have prompted Egypt to intensify its diplomatic and military activities in the region. Consequently, the main agendas and strategic movements raised by political analysts and regional media regarding Egypt’s alleged efforts to disrupt the peace and stability of East Africa are summarized as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n


One of Egypt\u2019s strategies to attack Ethiopia is using an old method called \u201cThe Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend” Strategy and Military Alliances. Egypt is strengthening its military and diplomatic ties with neighboring countries to exert its influence in East Africa and apply pressure on Ethiopia. The 2nd strategy of Egypt to influence Ethiopia is making an alliance with Eritrea. The frequent security and military agreements between the leaders of Egypt and Eritrea are said to be aimed particularly at curbing Ethiopia’s influence around the Red Sea region. Support for the Sudanese Military is also Egypt\u2019s another strategy to attack Ethiopia. Egypt openly supports Al-Burhan’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in the ongoing civil war in Sudan. Critics argue this approach is a strategy to weaken Sudan, preventing it from standing on its own feet and aligning its Nile water politics advantageously with Ethiopia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cEthiopians have, throughout various eras, overcome the national and external challenges they faced, preserving their history and sovereignty.
In the course of history, Egypt’s stance stands out prominently among the external forces attempting to disrupt the country’s development and geopolitical activities.
Although relations between Ethiopia and Egypt have been shaped by diplomacy, religion, and water politics at various historical junuries, Egypt has worked rigorously to ensure that the relationship between the two nations is built on suspicion.

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Professor Haggai Erlich, in his book \u201cEthiopia and the Middle East,\u201d points out that the Nile River is the primary determining factor in the historical and strategic connection between Ethiopia and Egypt.
However, Egypt\u2019s deliberate disregard for the fact that the Nile originates in Ethiopia, and its actions to keep Ethiopia from utilizing its own resource for many years by binding it with colonial-era contracts, has caused relations between the two nations to sour at various times.
In particular, the signing of a bilateral water-sharing agreement between Egypt and Sudan in 1959 that excluded Ethiopia clearly demonstrates Egypt’s staunch desire to prevent Ethiopia from using the Nile River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Even though Ethiopia made it clear when it began constructing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Nile that its fundamental objective was to improve the standard of living for its people by generating electric power and to foster regional integration, Egypt\u2014driven by its desire to preserve the unfair, exclusive water rights it enjoyed for centuries\u2014has attempted to oppose the construction of the dam in international forums and through diplomatic channels.
Nevertheless, without bowing to Egypt’s diplomatic and political pressures, Ethiopia asserted its rights, completed the Renaissance Dam, and put it into service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Yet Egypt, which has never favored Ethiopia’s benefit and does not wish to see its influence grow in the region, did not rest even after the dam was completed. Playing the victim, it continues its efforts to tarnish Ethiopia’s image before the world; going further, it issues various threats, spreads false propaganda, and works to disrupt domestic stability by fueling internal conflicts.
Unable to stop the Renaissance Dam from becoming a reality, Egypt is now leaving no stone unturned and entering every international platform to foil Ethiopia’s quest for access to the sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Given Ethiopia’s strategic and economic scale in the East African region, securing sustainable sea access and port alternatives are a critical issue for its security and development. Ethiopia believes that the quest for sea access should be implemented peacefully, through trade and agreements, without violating the sovereignty and rights of other nations; its desire for sea access is pursued in a manner that ensures mutual benefit and brings peace to the region.
While Ethiopia’s return to the Red Sea would be a great asset for regional and global peace, as well as economic activity, Egypt opposes this and is trying to block Ethiopia’s exit by deceptively approaching regional countries to curtail Ethiopia’s national interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


However, as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) stated: \u201cNo one has ever stopped Ethiopia; no one will stop her. This is just a hollow, impossible wish; there is no power that will stop Ethiopia from marching forward to protect the national interest and sovereignty of her people, without infringing upon the rights of others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 
By Hussen Kemal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AMN PLUS-October 1, 2026 Egypt’s geopolitical strategy in East Africa and the Horn of Africa is primarily linked to its national security concerns and its water share of the Nile River. The completion of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) by Ethiopia and the country’s recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Somaliland for sea access […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ethiopia","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5105"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5110,"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5105\/revisions\/5110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}