The aim of this essay is to examine how the foreign relationships of Ethiopia has developed as a result of the construction and filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam between 2011 and 2021. This essay therefore asks: How has Ethiopia’s foreign relations with the EU, Egypt, Sudan and China changed, have those relationships become more conflictual or cooperative, and how could potential changes be explained using a constructivist perspective? Constructivism is used as a means of explaining changes in the statements, positions and policies of these countries through concepts such as “norms” and “identities”. It additionally utilizes concepts from other studies such as “Hydro-hegemony”, “Benefit Sharing” and “Ethiopian renaissance”. It uses the BAR-scale from Wolf et al. (2003) to determine the different stages of Ethiopia’s relationships. The study concludes that Ethiopia’s relationship with the EU and China have progressed positively as a result of the GERD, and they have now started considering Ethiopia a more equitable partner for further cooperation. The relationship with Egypt and Sudan initially improved, with new Ethiopian norms of cooperation and equitable utilization becoming mainstay. However, Ethiopia’s unilateral action during recent events broke these norms, and has turned the relations conflictual once again.

Transboundary water treaties are established to prevent disputes over shared rivers between states. Nevertheless, empirical studies indicate that international organizations manage to bring cooperation between states in some cases and fail in others. This research explains why the efforts of international organizations to promote water cooperation sometimes succeed or sometimes fail and which factors contribute to their varying levels of success in different cases? International organizations are more likely to achieve cooperation between states with strong characters (less change in power dynamics) and share mutual benefits than weaker states (frequent shift in power dynamics) and have less shared benefits. I will examine how shared benefits and the character of the state can help international originations achieve cooperation or conflict that can be influenced by power asymmetry or by creating an imbalance/balance of power (causal mechanisms). Thus, weak riparian countries are less likely to achieve cooperation, increasing the probability of conflict. The hypothesis is tested on the Nile River Basin and the Indus River Basin, using a comparative analysis. The findings indicate an important relationship between the state’s characters, shared benefits, and the role of international organizations in bringing cooperation and preventing conflict between riparian states.

The inter-scalar interaction of norms is pervasive in African hydropolitics due to the nature of freshwater on the continent – shared, strategic and that which necessitates cooperation. However, with few exceptions, particular norms created at specific levels of scale have been researched in isolation of those existing at other levels. It is argued that this exclusionary approach endangers the harmonised and integrated development of international water law and governance, producing sub-optimal cooperative strategies. The notable contributions of Ken Conca and the Maryland School’s research on the contestation of norms occurring at different levels of scale, and Anthony Turton’s Hydropolitical Complex (HPC), will be examined through a Constructivist theoretical lens, in terms of their applicability to furthering an understanding of multi-level normative frameworks. Through the use of the Orange-Senqu River basin, and the Nile Equatorial Lakes sub-basin (NELSB) as case studies, it is argued that norm convergence is possible, and is occurring in both case studies analysed, although to varying degrees as a result of different causal factors and different biophysical, historical, socio-political and cultural contexts. This is demonstrated through an examination of regional dynamics and domestic political milieus. Notwithstanding their varying degrees of water demand, Orange-Senqu and NELSB riparians present fairly different political identities, each containing existing constellations of norms, which have affected the ways in which they have responded to the influence of external norms, how the norm is translated at the local level and to what extent it is incorporated into state policy. In so doing, the interface between international norms and regional/domestic norms will be explored in an attempt to understand which norms gain acceptance and why. It is therefore advocated that a multi-level interpretation of norm development in Africa’s hydropolitics is essential to an understanding of the interconnectedness of context, interests and identities. Each level of scale, from the international to the subnational, give meaning to how norms are translated and socialised, and how they in turn, transform contexts.

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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This case study on East Africa analyses the impact of changing power relations over the last decade on Egypt’s hydro-hegemony on the Nile River Basin. Covering one-tenth of Africa’s landmass and providing resources for the 340 million people and countless species, the Nile is exemplary of Africa’s geographic, cultural and ecological diversity, as well as its political complexity. Eleven riparian states lie in its basin area and compete for dwindling water resources as demand rises in a highly asymmetrical power relationship between upstream and downstream states. Egypt, although geographically disadvantaged due to its downstream position, has established hydro-hegemony by combining material capabilities, legal and institutional mechanisms, as well as knowledge production. Its relative wealth is contingent upon the supply of Nile water, as it makes up 95% of Egypt’s freshwater. Egypt has legally secured its claim through the 1959 Treaty on the Full Utilisation of the Nile Waters which divides the Nile water flow between Egypt and Sudan. Egypt further established consolidated control by using its downstream position in the World Bank to de facto veto upstream hydro-electric power projects throughout the 1990s. In contrast, the East African Community Partner States only started to lay claim to the water over the last decade due to its history of colonialism, proxy wars and political instability. In 2002, the EAC decided to manage the Lake Victoria Basin jointly. Paired with growing stability and economic growth in the region, this management has attracted Chinese investment in hydro-electric power projects, notably dams, giving East Africa financial independence from both the World Bank and Egypt to build hydro-infrastructure projects. East African states use the influx of Chinese investments to increase their respective defence budgets while Egypt’s military spending, as a share of GDP, has been decreasing over the last decade. Under the Nyerere Doctrine, East African states refuse to honour the 1959 Treaty and have asked for re-negotiation. The first step was taken in 2011, when six upstream states under EAC leadership signed the Cooperative Framework Agreement paving the way for renegotiation, in the face of Egypt’s explicit refusal. Domestic factors in Egypt, coupled with East Africa’s growing self-confidence, are slowly changing the power relations in the Nile basin. Using the London Water Research Group’s Hydro-Hegemony framework in a triangular diachronic single-case study research design, this study traces the processes of counter-hegemony and hydropolitical power shifts. Understanding these political processes is the first step towards the sustainable distribution of the Nile water resources on the basin level. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie gevallestudie oor Oos-Afrika ontleed die impak van veranderende magsverhoudinge op Egipte se beheer oor die loop van die Nylwater gedurende die laaste dekade. Die Nyl, wat vloei oor een tiende van die landmassa van Afrika en lewensmiddele verskaf aan die 340 miljoen mense en ontelbare spesies wat daar ´n bestaan voer, dien as voorbeeld vir Afrika se geografiese, kulturele en ekologiese diversiteit sowel as die politieke kompleksiteit daarvan. Elf oewerstate lê in die Nylopvanggebied en wedywer vir waterbronne wat afneem, terwyl die aanvraag styg in ‘n hoogs asimmetriese magsverhouding tussen die lande wat stroomop en stroomaf geleë is. Alhoewel Egipte geografies benadeel is deur stroomaf geleë te wees, het die land hidrohegemonie verkry deur middel van sy materiële vermoëns, wets- en institutêre meganismes, en kennisproduksie. Die relatiewe rykdom van Egipte is afhanklik van die beskikbaarheid van Nylwater, wat 95% van die land se varswater verskaf. Egipte het sy aanspraak daarop wetlik vasgelê deur middel van die 1959 Verdrag oor die Volle Gebruik van die Nylwater, wat die Nyl se vloei verdeel tussen Egipte en die Soedan. Gedurende die 1990s het die land sy beheer verder versterk deur sy stroomafposisie by die Wêreldbank te gebruik om hidroelktriesekragprojekte stroomop de facto te veto. As gevolg van ‘n geskiedenis van kolonialisme en politieke onrus, het die lidstate van die Oos-Afrikaanse Gemeenskap (OAG) egter eers gedurende die laaste dekade begin om die Nylwater te eis. In 2002 het die OAG besluit om die Victoriameer-opvanggebied gesamentlik te beheer. Hierdie beheer, saam met toenemende bestendigheid en ekonomiese groei in die gebied, het aanleiding gegee tot Chinese beleggings in hidroelektriesekragprojekte, veral damme, sodat Oos-Afrika finansiële onafhanklikheid verkry het van beide die Wêreldbank en Egipte om sy eie hidro-infrastuktuurprojekte te bou. Terwyl die Oos-Afrikaanse lande die invloei van Chinese beleggings gebruik om hulle onderskeie verdedigingsbegrotings te vergroot, het Egipte se militêre uitgawes afgeneem as ‘n deel van die BBP oor die laaste dekade. Die Oos-Afrikaanse lande beroep hulle op die Nyerere Dokrine deur te weier om die 1959 Verdrag na te kom, en het versoek dat dit heronderhandel word. Die eerste treë is in 2011, geneem toe ses stroomoplande onder die leierskap van die OAG die Koöperatiewe Raamwerk Verdrag onderteken het, wat die pad voorberei vir heronderhandeling ten spyte van Egipte se onomwonde weiering daartoe.

Cette thèse vise à restituer l'histoire de la mousson africaine au cours du Quaternaire, et à en déterminer ses influences sur les variations des apports sédimentaires du Nil et des déserts d’Afrique du nord. Deux sites de la Méditerranée orientale ont alors été étudiés (la carotte MD90-964 dans la partie orientale du bassin Levantin et le Site ODP 964 dans la Mer ionienne). Sur la base des analyses de la minéralogie des argiles, de la granulomètrie, de la teneur en carbonate et Corg couplées à des analyses semi-quantitatives d’éléments majeurs et traces à très haute résolution temporelle par XRF Core Scanner, nous avons restitué l’histoire des apports sédimentaires du Nil, des changements de précipitation en l’Afrique du Nord, et des variations des paleo-crues du Nil au cours des 1,75 derniers millions d'années. Le premier enregistrement de Delta(18)O du foraminifère planctonique G. ruber (carotte MD90-964) de l’ensemble du Quaternaire a été obtenu à très haute résolution temporelle pour la Méditerranée orientale. Le site ODP 964 a permis de restituer la dynamique des apports de poussière saharienne à la mer ionienne durant les 1,5 derniers millions d'années. Les résultats indiquent que les changements dans les apports de sédiments transportés par le Nil et par les vents depuis les domaines sahariens sont fortement influencés par les variations de la mousson africaine. Les alternances glaciaires/interglaciaires et les variations climatiques de la transition climatique mi-Pléistocène (MPT), dans une moindre mesure, influencent également / This thesis is devoted to reconstruct the Quaternary history of African monsoon and its influences on suspended loads of the Nile River and dust production in Sahara. The materials used in this study come from two sites (MD90-964 in the eastern Levantine Basin and ODP Site 964 in the Ionian Sea) in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Based on clay mineralogy, grain sizes, carbonate and Corg contents, and XRF core scanning analyses of Core MD90-964, we have reconstructed history of the Nile suspended discharges, precipitation in North Africa, and Nile paleoflood events during the last 1.75 Ma. On the basis of the planktonic foraminiferal Delta(18)O record of Core MD90-964, we have established for the first time in the eastern Mediterranean Sea a high-resolution planktonic foraminiferal (G. ruber) Delta(18)O record that penetrates the Quaternary period. The ODP Site 964 allows us to establish the variations of Saharan dust inputs to the eastern Mediterranean Sea during the last 1.5 Ma. Our results indicate that both fluvial sediments from the Nile and Saharan eolian dust inputs to the eastern Mediterranean Sea are greatly influenced by the variability of African monsoon. The glacial/interglacial cycles and other orbital-scale climatic events, such as the “Mid-Pleistocene Transition”, can also affect climate changes in North Africa to a minor extent.

在後冷戰時期，由於國際氛圍的改變以及全球化的影響，國家間互動密切，國際關係學者與政策制定者關心的議題逐漸從軍事層面慢慢轉向非軍事的面，因此所謂的非傳統安全也逐漸受到重視。國家開始注意到其他許多問題，諸如環保、移民、國際走私等問題，也發現這些問題影響的範圍及層面其實相當的廣泛，這些問題使得國內局面動盪不安，也跟著影響了國家安全，而一些跨國界的問題，例如環保問題，由於人類對環境的過度使用及破壞，一方面使得國家社會經濟層面受到影響，一方面國家之間為了爭奪這些珍貴資源，將無可避免地發生衝突。 本研究探討了非傳統安全中一個分類議題---環境安全，而資源安全也包括在其中。關於環境問題是否為安全議題的一環，引起了無數爭論，不過目前對於環境問題是安全的一環，學界已有一個大致上的共識。水資源安全是環境安全概念下引申出來的分支，對於水資源的爭奪，是衝突的潛在引爆點。 水是人類生存的必需品，在二十一世紀，水更是一切發展的關鍵，關係著國民的健康，國民健康關係著國力，水也和工業、農業發展息息相關。因此水不只是一個環境問題或是經濟問題，水更和國家安全緊密相連。且新鮮水資源沒有替代品，由於人口成長和氣候變遷的影響，未來新鮮水資源將會更難取得。 在世界上的許多地區都把獲得水源視為國家安全的一部份，不惜為水一戰，特別是對於國際河川之爭奪，對乾旱地區的國家來說，水資源問題是會影響到國家生存和發展的戰略問題，特別是那些用水特別緊張的地區，為水而起的衝突一觸即發。本研究以非洲尼羅河流域為例，檢視水資源問題是否為國家安全的一部分，以及爭奪水資源是否會成為戰爭的引爆點。 由於沒有一個國家可以獨占水資源，國家間在水的議題上必須共同合作，探討出一個大家共同接受的管理模式，各國在水資源使用上才能達到最大的效益。

The Colossi of Memnon are a prominent feature of the constructed landscape at ancient Thebes (modern day Luxor, Egypt). They were built on the West Bank during the later years of Amenhotep III reign and they stood in front of his royal cult temple, Mansion of Millions of Years, known today colloquially as Kôm el-Hetan. There is no consensus on the purpose of the statues and it is plausible that they were meant to represent multiple things. However, what all the theories surrounding their purpose have in common is that they are all reliant on the visibility of the statues. The Theban Harbours and Waterscapes Survey led by Angus Graham (Uppsala University) discovered that the royal cult temple and colossi statues was built on top of an elevated area of what is believed to be have been a pre-existing wadi fan (Toonen et al.2018; 2019). To the east of the temple, a minor channel of the Nile river was also discovered. The aim of this thesis was to analyse the visibility and visual experience of the Colossi of Memnon during the 18thDynasty. By analysing the boreholes from the Theban Harbours and Waterscapes Survey, I have (re)constructed the geological features of the surrounding landscape in a game engine (Unity). The visual analysis was done by a combined GIS spatial analysis and a VR based phenomenological approach. I concluded that the levees of the minor channel of the Nile were not elevated high enough to create any substantial blocking of the view from the floodplain or from inside of the channel during the low season. It was only when you got up close to the levees and kneeled on the ground that you would lose sight of parts of the colossi. As the surface level of the Nile rose during its annual cyclethe, it would be easier to observe the statues from any part of the minor channel. As for the visual experience of observing the Colossi of Memnon from different parts of the model, the experience only changed slightly from viewing the statues from the view of the floodplain or the channel. What changed the experience drastically was if you approached the statues from the front of from the side. As you approached the statues from the front you had the statues standing symmetrically in front of the temple and they are in turn facing you. Being in front of the Colossi statues creates a feeling of being part of the statues’ experience. Not only where the humans meant to see the statues, I believe that the statues were meant to see us. This as the most ideal location to observe and visually experience the statues, is where we are in the view of both the Colossi of Memnon. The experience of the statues fades as you approach them from their side where you become the observer rather than the observed. The visual experience from the side also results in that you do not get to fully take part in the experience that both statues provide. This is because one of them becomes slightly blocked by the other. / <p>På grund av pandemi utfördes opponering på distans över Zoom</p>