Veiled Consent and Open Contest in Ethio-Egyptian Hydro-Political Interactions during the Turn of 21st Century
Keywords:
Veiled Contest, Open Contest, Hydro-politics, Regional InstitutionsAbstract
Cooperation and Conflict seem to largely coexist in trans boundary water interactions at different levels. This seems more visible in the Nile Basin during the turn of the 21st century. Based on secondary data sources and corroborations with primary data elicited via key informant interviews, this study uses qualitative research to explain the nature of 'veiled consent' and 'open contest' during this period which culminated with Ethiopia's launch of the Grand Renaissance Dam project as open contest to the status quo. In doing this, the study is conducted based on the conceptual framework of dynamic trans boundary waters interactions by focusing on the implications of the cooperative processes within Nail Basin Initiative and concludes that the challenges especially in the Cooperative Framework Agreement process has paved the way for the unilateral move to open contest by Ethiopia in the face of the difficulty that was conceived as a process of stalling. Accordingly, the future resolution of the deep conflict requires revisiting the Cooperative Framework Agreement process beyond preoccupation with a single project within such broad process.
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