Hydro-Political Discourse Analysis of the Ethiopian and the Egyptian Government Foreign Affairs Office Press Releases on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2019-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The purpose of the study is to see the Hydro-political discourse of the Ethiopian and the
Egyptian Foreign Affairs Offices. The objective of the study was to critically analyze the
selected press releases of the Egyptian and the Ethiopian Foreign Affairs offices political
discourses on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. The press releases/political discourses
which were taken from the Foreign Affairs Office of the two countries following the lay down
the corner stone of the GERD (April, 2011) till the Declaration of Principles on GERD
(March, 2015) among Egypt, Ethiopia and the Sudan were analyzed to answer the research
questions. For that reason, six relevant political discourses/press releases which were
released by the Egyptian Foreign Affairs Office in the time frame set had been taken
purposely while another six relevant texts/press releases from the Ethiopian Foreign Affairs
Office were taken to get a proportional number of texts for analysis. The study selected the
Critical Discourse Analysis approach as a method to answer those research questions.
Fairclough’s approach of CDA was utilized to answer the research questions. The approach
flexibly used to have textual and analysis of the social practice. The research questions were
also answered through the lenses of political communication and rhetoric theories. The
analysis revealed that the GERED was constructed and interpreted differently in the two
countries Foreign Affairs Office press releases. The Egyptian Foreign Affairs Office press
releases constructed the GERD as if it is a threat for the National security and the ‘Historical
right’ of the Egyptian over the river Nile. On the other hand, the Ethiopian Foreign Affairs
Office press releases constructed the GERD as a means to bring sustainable development in
the country and wouldn’t have a significant harm over other neighboring Nile basin
countries. On the top of this, the old ‘Historical Nile water right’ discourse of the Egyptian
has been replaced by the upper riparian countries new discourse of ‘Equitable water share of
the Nile’. The 1959 Nile water share agreement of Egypt and Sudan has faced challenges
from the Cooperative Framework of Agreement which favors the equitable water utilization
of the Nile and was signed by six upper Nile basin states. The findings indicated that power
has been shifting from the lower riparian countries to the upper Nile basin states. The
analysis of social practice revealed that both the Ethiopian and the Egyptian Government
Foreign Affairs Office press releases are in alignment with government Foreign policy
documents of their respective countries.
Description
Keywords
Journalisme