| Abstract: | Resolution of the Nile waters question has proved, once again, to be an elusive
task. Identifying the major hurdle which has bedeviled past cooperative
initiatives and rendered current efforts mere Sisyphean ones is thus of
paramount importance. The main thrust of this article is to identify this
challenge which has thus far stifled almost all efforts at resolution of the Nile
waters question in a fair and equitable manner. The consistently obstinate
position Egypt has taken over the years to maintain its poignantly inequitable
“share” of Nile waters forever is the heart of the problem which makes any
settlement of the Nile waters question a virtual impossibility. Relying on its
status as the basin’s hydro-hegemon, Egypt has so far been able to not only
defend the indefensible but has also been able to effectively hoodwink and
contain the non-hegemonic riparians by engaging them in “cooperative
initiatives” and a “benefit sharing” scheme it effectively is using as stalling
tactics while aggressively pursuing giant hydraulic projects as instruments of
resource capture. A real transformation and a breakthrough in this stalemate
requires, of necessity, a change in the malign, oppressive nature of Egyptian
hydro-hegemony into a benign, cooperative one, at least. The non-hegemonic
riparian states have thus to adopt effective counter-hegemonic strategies in
order to force Egypt back to the negotiation table, developing, in the mean
time, the resource and technical capability that would enable them to resist and
overcome the multifaceted pressure and influence the hydro-hegemon will
inevitably exert to keep them in line; failure to do so would surely condemn them to live, ad infinitum, with the grotesquely inequitable status quo. |
