CONFLICTS AND COMPROMISES OVER THE NILE WATER BETWEEN STATES OF THE RIVER SOURCE AND ESTUARY: A HISTORICAL STUDY THROUGH THE EGYPTIAN-ETHIOPIAN RELATIONS (1820-1935)

Abstract

The polarity significance of fresh water has increased to express the concerns of the Arab world in general at present and its aspirations for the future with the beginning of the 21 centuries. In the fifties of the 20^th century, the countries suffering from water shortage was too few, but today they increased up to 26 countries worldwide. As of the year 2000, water in the Middle East became a strategic commodity that exceeds oil and food. The problem of water in the Arab countries is not just of a quantitative shortage in the supply of fresh water in the face of the growth of the population and the increase in their needs for the purposes of agriculture, industry and drinking, but there are political, economic and legal dimensions, especially in countries where rivers pass that do not control their sources and projects other Arab and African parties. We chose the location of the problem of this water in the Nile, and reviewed the most important compromises that took place between Egypt, the estuary and the source countries of Abyssinia (currently Ethiopia) and the rest of the Nile basin countries from the modern era until the beginning of the Italian-Ethiopian war in 1935. In order to explore from international treaties and agreements, all water disputes are between the source and estuary parties, i.e., between countries competing for a fair share of water.