An Egyptian-Ethiopian race to win it ... Washington is still formulating a solution to the Renaissance Dam crisis

The administration of former US President Donald Trump interfered in the negotiations of the Renaissance Dam directly, but the administration of President Joe Biden, after 3 months of assuming power, did not issue any vision to solve the escalating crisis between Washington's allies in the Horn of Africa and Northeast Africa: Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. .

A number of observers in the American capital believe that the failure of the previous administration to resolve the crisis, despite Trump's personal intervention and Washington's hosting of a number of negotiating rounds between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, pushes the Biden administration to wait for what proposals it can present, while others indicated no A realistic American vision to solve the complex crisis.

The Biden administration did not express its position on the issue of building the Renaissance Dam except through loose diplomatic phrases, such as, "We express our growing concern about the tension around the waters of the Nile River, and we appeal to all parties to work together to resolve the differences over the Renaissance Dam by cooperating among them." Came in the statements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the case.

Meanwhile, State Department spokesman Ned Price expressed the aspiration of "President Joe Biden's administration to renew US efforts to mediate in the long-running dispute between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt over the impact of the dam on the flow of the Blue Nile waters."

Attitude .. not position

During Trump's rule, Cairo's pressure succeeded in issuing an official US statement calling for the necessity of reaching an agreement between the parties concerned before filling the dam reservoirs.

Negotiations were held under US supervision and with the participation of the World Bank as a result of the Egyptian invitation. However, they reached a dead end after Ethiopia rejected the US initiative that it presented to the parties regarding rules related to the period of filling the dam and the method of its operation.

The Biden administration is moving very slowly towards the escalating developments of the Renaissance Dam crisis, which has reached the point of threatening a military solution between the parties to the conflict.

President Biden sent Senator Chris Kunz to convey the extent of Washington's seriousness in facing the crises of the Horn of Africa in general, and a special envoy is scheduled to be appointed to the Horn of Africa - press reports indicate that he will be the veteran diplomat Jeffrey Feltman - which paves the way for playing an increasing American role in the dam issue and other regional issues. .

Cameron Hudson, a former CIA official and the White House and a current expert on African affairs at the Atlantic Institute, considers that “the Biden administration has not yet fully announced its conception of a solution to the Renaissance Dam crisis, but nevertheless, Biden has an interest in participating and correcting the previous perception in the Trump era. That the United States supports the Egyptian position. "

In his speech to Al Jazeera Net, Hudson notes that "in terms of results, what preoccupies the Biden administration now is to reduce the intensity of hostile rhetoric between the parties, and to help avoid any negative consequences that would affect regional stability on a larger scale."

Judd DeVermont, head of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, agreed, in an interview with Al Jazeera Net, with the Trump administration’s position close to Cairo’s position damaging Washington’s credibility to mediate between the parties to the crisis. The American government is with Addis Ababa, which considered Washington too close to Cairo in this conflict. "

Washington enjoys good relations with Egypt and Ethiopia, despite the negative image due to their poor record with regard to human rights and anti-democratic practices.

Ethiopia is a strong ally of Washington in East Africa. A study by the Congressional Research Service indicated that "Ethiopia plays an important role in confronting Al Qaeda and its affiliated groups in the Horn of Africa," and Ethiopia relies in promoting its position on the humanitarian dimension that is supported by official reports issued by the Bank. International, which indicates Ethiopia's urgent need for electric power.

At the same time, Cairo has important relations with Washington as a result of its policies in the Middle East and North Africa.

Therefore, there may be no alternative to Washington's mediation between the two parties in a way that avoids the negative aspects of Trump's mediation.

The Biden administration is trying to move away from the Trump administration's bias towards Cairo in the Renaissance Dam crisis (social media)

Compete to get close to Biden

Ethiopia, through the writings of some American Ethiopian activists, is promoting the need for Washington to intervene "in order to find a solution, as the United States should consider providing Egypt with agricultural and water solutions to alleviate any concerns about water scarcity, especially since Cairo is an old military ally of Washington." Focus on providing financial aid to improve the irrigation system in Egypt, "as stated in an article by Ethiopian-American activist Ficker Zelem published by the International Policy Digest.

Zelem called for changing the nature of US aid to Egypt to focus on the development aspect rather than the military one, and said that "Washington gives Egypt about $ 1.5 billion in foreign aid annually, 89% of which goes to military aid. The United States should shift its focus to providing the country with more economic aid." "For humanitarian and development goals, and perhaps providing assistance to the agricultural sector in Egypt will persuade Egypt to reconsider accepting Ethiopia's decision to fill the dam."

On the other hand, the escalation of the construction, filling and operation of the Renaissance Dam between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia coincided with Cairo and Addis Ababa doubling their efforts in Washington to push the administration of President Joe Biden to stand in the side of each of them.

As the two countries resorted to promoting the official narrative adopted by each country towards the crisis in the American circles, and the two countries used a number of lobbying and public relations companies to polish their images and push the staff of the US administration and members of Congress to understand their position.

The Justice Ministry documents - which Al Jazeera Net viewed - revealed that Ethiopia has used a new lobbying company to communicate with Congress and the Biden administration, at a time when the country is locked in a diplomatic crisis with Egypt over the dam.

And the Ethiopian embassy in Washington signed a contract worth 35 thousand dollars a month with the company "Venable" for legal advice early last March, for a period of 3 months in principle, with the possibility of extending it.

According to the terms of the contract, the US company will provide "a government relations service that may include liaison with members of Congress, ministries and the Biden administration," and will be supervised by attorney Thomas Quinn and political advisor Lauren Ahue.

Ethiopia is promoting in American circles that the dam construction project is a development work that produces the electrical energy needed to light the homes of millions of Ethiopians, whose villages have not yet electricity, and that the dam is a vital priority for development.

Egypt preceded Ethiopia in contracting with new lobbying companies in anticipation of Biden's arrival to power, to persuade his administration to follow the example of the Trump administration in supporting the Egyptian position.

In the aftermath of Trump's defeat in the election, the Egyptian embassy in Washington moved quickly to sign a one-year contract with Brownstein Hyatt Farber, valued at $ 65,000 a month.

Biden has avoided communicating directly with the heads of state of the Renaissance Dam crisis since he assumed power (Al-Jazeera)

Modest steps

President Biden has not telephoned any of the leaders of the three parties to the Renaissance Dam crisis since he came to power.

The US State Department’s statement about the only telephone conversation that took place between the Egyptian and US secretaries of state last February did not mention any reference to the Renaissance Dam issue.

With Washington developing its relations with Sudan through the re-normalization of relations with it, Foreign Minister Tony Blinken spoke with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok on April 5, stressing the US support for "the Renaissance Dam negotiations and the importance of integrating the parties in the negotiations to resolve the crisis."

Two days later, National Security Adviser Jake Solivan called the Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister, linking the reduction of tension on the Sudanese-Ethiopian border with the conflict in Tigray and the Renaissance Dam negotiations.

But observers did not consider these steps serious and sufficient as a sign of real interest from Washington and Biden in the issue of the Renaissance Dam crisis.