Long standing tensions over the Nile, especially the Blue Nile, originate in Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s proposed construction of dams on the headwaters of the Blue Nile leads Egypt to repeatedly declare the vital importance of water. “The only matter that could take Egypt to war again is water’ (Anwar Sadat, 1979). “The next war in our region will be over the waters of the Nile, not politics” (Boutros Boutrous-Ghali, 1988).
