Link to article: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cglk038p1d3o
Egypt and Somalia are in a growing military alliance and Egypt has just shipped over a second ship of weapons for Somalia within a month. Somalia has been really strong allies with Ethiopia but Somalia has now shifted towards becoming stronger allies with Egypt. Egypt and Ethiopia’s continued rivalry over the GERD has caused a lot of tension in the Horn of Africa; Egypt has used these tensions to grow closer to Somalia and become a strong military power. Somalia will be losing a very beneficial alliance with Ethiopia who have combated Al-Qaeda linked groups terrorizing Somalia. However, Somalia is very unhappy with Ethiopia because of its new deal with Somaliland that according to Somalia, is part of their territory. Currently, Ethiopia has 3,000 soldiers in Somalia as part of the AU to support the government but Egypt has sent 5,000 of their soldiers to that same support mission in Somalia. As tensions rise between Egypt and Ethiopia, it is becoming very alarming to the Ethiopian military that Egypt is developing a powerful military. As Egypt continues to supply Somalia with vast amounts of artillery, Ethiopia must ensure they can defend themselves from this strong military alliance. Somalia must weigh their options and consider the benefits or ramifications there could be by joining Egypt in these rising tensions.
This article is very significant because it shows how power is quickly shifting in this area of Africa. As Ethiopia’s and Somalia’s relationship is waning, Egypt is taking advantage of this and looking towards growing in military power. This new power shift could cause many countries in this region to create new alliances and Ethiopia may need to find new partners to be in a better position to combat Egypt. Another thing that could affect this region greatly is a rise of terrorism; this could occur as a result of Ethiopia not supporting Somalia in defending against terrorists. As Egypt sends heavy artillery to Somalia, the production of mass amounts of weapons could cause more violence in the horn of Africa. I think Ethiopia should work out the conflict over Somaliland, in hopes to reconcile that alliance with Somalia. Creating a compromise over the territory of Somaliland could be very beneficial for both countries and; Ethiopia may not have been in this difficult position if this was worked out sooner. Somalia could threaten to cut off trade with Ethiopia if they continue to partner with Somaliland. This would be a devastating loss for Ethiopia as a mostly landlocked country that relies heavily on their trade relations with Somalia.
As we’ve learned in this class, in international relations it is very common for countries to look more into their national interest instead of broader regional or global issues. Ethiopia is looking more into their own interests such as the GERD and the territory they own in Somaliland. The GERD is very beneficial for Ethiopia’s infrastructure, it’s a great power source and the largest hydroelectric plant is located on the Blue Nile. In contrast, Egypt is very concerned about the GERD and its effects on their water supply and agriculture. Both countries are looking first at their own interests which is causing many regional issues and could even lead to a possible war. If Somalia, Egypt and Ethiopia could settle some of these matters diplomatically and look outside of their national interests, they could possibly come to some civil agreements.