The BRIGHT STAR 23 multilateral military exercise, aimed at boosting regional defense cooperation, concludes today in Egypt. Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat

The BRIGHT STAR 23 military exercise will conclude today.

Conducted in northern Egypt, the biennial Bright Star exercise, led by the US and Egyptian armed forces with 30 participating nations, demonstrates new equipment, tactics, and coordination for conventional and irregular warfare. Since its inception in 1980, it has occurred 18 times and coincided with approximately $50 billion in US military aid to Egypt.

For Egypt, presenting itself as a reliable US ally in an otherwise tumultuous region plays a key role in receiving military aid, $300 million of which is currently pending US State Department approval due to human rights concerns. Separately, given rising tensions with Ethiopia over its recent unilateral filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Egypt’s military may see Bright Star as an additional way to prep its armed forces to protect its interests abroad.

Look for President Biden to approve a portion of the pending $300 million in military aid, as it did in 2022, to continue riding the fence between geopolitical and humanitarian ideals. While Egypt is unlikely to withdraw from GERD water filling negotiations in the short-term, long-term climate change and Nile water scarcity could escalate Cairo’s water issue into a regional conflict.