IMPORTANCE OF WATER RESOURCES IN THE MIDDLE EASTERN POLITICS

Abstract

Water is the lifeblood of all human and natural systems. Although most regions of the world have abundant water resources, availability of drinking water is inadequate in many parts of the world. Current and projected water shortages are nowhere as acute as in the arid countries of the Middle East. While battles have been fought over water allocation in many countries, the greatest potential for a conflict over water is perhaps in the Middle East, where water resources are limited and political tension is high. Water is just one of the issues that may widen the gulf between countries. Cooperation to solve water problems is possible, though difficult. Indeed, joint action on water has the potential to lead to even greater co-operation in the wider political arena. Mutually beneficial, “win – win” solutions are preferable to conflict or stalemate. Conversely, arrangements not arrived at to fairly allocate one of life’s most important necessities can only perpetuate conflict. The most pressing environmental problem in the Middle East concerns the ownership, management and useof scarce water resources. Water has frequently been the cause of regional conflicts. Much of the struggle between Israel and its Arab neighbours revolves around the water issues. Indeed, the history of relationship between Israel, Syria, and Jordan for the past 50 years can be viewed as a fight for water. A long-term settlement between Israel and its neighbours will depend as much on the fair allocation of water as of land. Nearby, Egypt fears an appropriation of the Niles waters, on which 60 million of its people are entirely dependent, by the upstream countries of Sudan and Ethiopia. Water problem is linked with other problems of the Middle East. The dispute between Iranand Iraq over Shatt-al-Arab, for example, has its origins in boundary conflicts that go back in history. Arguments between Turkey and Syria over water from the River Euphrates are often linked to Syrian support to the Marxist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that seeks independence for the Turkish Kurdistan region. Iraqi-Syrian water disagreements have both masked and resulted from military and political ambitions.