ASWAN DAM IN EGYPT

Aswan Dam in Egypt

Abstract

The Aswan High Dam was designed to control the Nile River. The huge dam controls flooding and stores water for times of drought, it is equipped to provide hydroelectric power. These benefits however do not come without a price tag. Hussein M. Fahim, who has been studying the impacts of the Aswan dam since 1963, writes "I view dams as engineering works, supposedly constructed to serve people; they, of course, have their technical specifications and requirements, but their potential humanistic implications should neither be overlooked nor underestimated." Engineers and governments must carefully weigh the benefits and the cost of any new technology. Huge environmental projects such as dams must entail even more thought and consideration than a new car engine or a faster microprocessor.

Aswan Dam in Egypt

Introduction

Aswan is a city on the first cataract of the Nile in Egypt. Two dams straddle the river at this point: the newer Aswan High Dam (), and the older Aswan Dam or Aswan Low Dam. The aim of this water project was to prevent the river's flooding, generate electricity and provide water for agriculture. (Gasser, 1989)

Without impoundment, the River Nile would flood each year during summer, as waters from East Africa flowed down the river as they did in ancient times. These floods brought nutrients and minerals that made the soil around the Nile fertile and ideal for farming. As the population along the river grew, there came a need to control the flood waters to protect and support farmland and cotton fields. In a high-water year, the whole crop may be entirely wiped out, while in a low-water year there was widespread drought and famine.

In 1955 Nasser was trying to portray himself as leader of Arab nationalism, in opposition to Hashemite Iraq, especially following the Baghdad pact of 1955. At this time the US was much more concerned with the possibility of communism spreading to the Middle East than protecting Israel, and saw Nasser as a natural leader of an anti-communist Arab league. And the USA and Britain offered to help finance construction with a loan of USD $270 million in return for Nasser's leadership on resolving the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Nasser presented himself as a tactical neutralist, and sought to play off US and Soviet concerns to Egyptian and Arab benefit. (Griffiths, 1972)

Angered by the Baghdad Pact and following Ben-Gurionist theory, Israel attacked Egyptian forces in Gaza and defeated them soundly. Nasser realized that he could not legitimately portray himself as the leader of pan-Arab nationalism if Israel could push him around militarily. He looked to quickly modernize his military, and he turned to the USA first.

John Foster Dulles and Dwight Eisenhower tell Nasser that the US will supply him with weapons only if they can send military personnel to supervise the training and use of the weapons. Nasser doesn't like these preconditions and looks to the USSR. Dulles believes that Nasser is only bluffing, and that the Soviet Union won't aid ...