In recent weeks, the Horn of Africa has continued to treat the expert community to a series of political developments that require careful reflection and offer a wide field for interpretation.

This time, Egypt has gone from words to deeds—shortly after signing a Defense Cooperation Agreement with Somalia, it has sent the first shipment of military assistance to the Somali government, led by Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud. In connection with this Defense Cooperation Agreement, not only the factors influencing Cairo’s decision to sign it and follow up on it, but also Addis Ababa’s potential reaction to such decisive and unambiguous steps are of particular interest.

Last week, as if seeking to summarize the contradictions in the relationship between Ethiopia and Egypt for the general reader, two news items reflecting the current political confrontations between the regional powers in the Horn of Africa appeared in the media simultaneously. The first of these news items dealt with Egypt’s prompt implementation of the Defense Cooperation Agreement signed with Somalia, by sending what, according to some reports, was a very significant contingent of military hardware to that country, while the second dealt with Ethiopia’s announcement that it had launched the operation of the third and fourth turbines of the Renaissance Dam, and that the Dam spillway was now operating, which, in effect, means that this ambitious project will soon be operating at full capacity. While the latter news item can be seen as the logical and long-announced continuation of the multi-year process of constructing and commissioning this major........

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