How is the region responding to the military takeover in Sudan? Shifts in regional diplomacy got play in the foreign press today following this week’s military takeover of Sudan. The longevity of changes in government in both Sudan and Tunisia will rest on the tacit support of regional power-brokers Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, Washington Post columnist Ishaan Tharoor argues. Military leader Abdel Fattah Burhan has had the trio’s backing for some years, according to the Associated Press, which notes that Burhan attended military college in Egypt.

And what does the military takeover mean for GERD? If the new government in Khartoum sticks, Egypt can expect its strong support in any dealings with Ethiopia over the hydropower mega-dam, according to the Africa Report. Meanwhile, Bloomberg says that military rule in Sudan could further inflame the GERD crisis in an explainer on recent events in the country. Also predicting an escalation in tensions over GERD is Thomas Friedman, who argues in his latest New York Times op-ed that a recent shake-up in regional alliances will push climate concerns front and center. “We are firmly in a transition from a Middle East shaped by great powers to a Middle East shaped by Mother Nature,” he writes.