Geography and Regional Planning

Geography and Regional Planning

Explaining the causes of hydropolitical tension in relations between countries (Case: Tension between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Nile)

Document Type : Basic scientific-research articles

Author
Meysam Mirzaei Tabar
Assistant Professor, Political Geography, African Studies Center, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/jgeoq.2025.497388.4202
Abstract
One of the important issues within the framework of geopolitics and hydropolitics is the issue of tension and conflict. Among the tensions, hydropolitical tensions are among the most important in the relations between governments and actors from the micro to the macro international levels. Their resolution is difficult, and it is important to understand the causes and roots of their occurrence. In recent years, one of the hydropolitical tensions that has been raised internationally and in Africa is the tension between Egypt and Ethiopia over Ethiopia's construction of the Renaissance Dam on the Nile, which neither country is willing to give up on its demands. Egypt considers any action to restrict the flow of the Nile water, including the construction of a dam, a vital threat to its territory and country, and Ethiopia, emphasizing the need for Nile water resources, insists on the construction of the Renaissance Dam. This research is descriptive in nature and descriptive-analytical in approach, which was conducted using a qualitative method, inferential approach, and content analysis. Information is collected through a library method and the analysis method is explanatory (causal). The main question is: What are the most important causes of hydropolitical tension in relations between countries, and specifically between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Nile? The results of the research show that the most important causes of this hydropolitical tension are examined within the framework of the vital importance of the Nile, identity and historical causes, intervention factors, climate issues, etc.
Keywords
Hydropolitical Tension"
Egypt
Ethiopia"
"
Nile River"
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