Water Security Policies in Iraq (Strategic Perspective)

Abstract

Water security is a central environmental issue at the global level for economical, political and health consequences in the economies of developing countries. The concept of virtual water is a new tool in water resources management. Water crises are a global problem of long-term economic repercussions and an unbalanced conflict between the supply and demand sides in needing water, which leads to imbalance in the water balance structure and consequently in water policies. And it is particularly important for effective water governance(water management, and its governance) through water politicization, the use virtual water and dealing with water as an economic commodity rather than a free one. The analysts and economic researchers are calling for the era of water in the third millennium instead of the era of oil that characterized at previous years. The research concluded that, in economic terms, water is expected to become a commodity sold and bought as any economic commodity. Water security should be studied from the point of view that relates the problem of water through three dimensions. The first one is related to climate variables and the second to the mismanagement and planning of water resources and the last dimension is the regional because the water sources originate from outside the Iraqi borders. Finally, the research recommends the necessity to move away from linking water with political positions and politics because politics is a rapidly changing world. As the countries of the upstream from the strategic perspective to apply the concept of political economic works to trade bartered oil for water and internationalization of the issue to take a regional dimension and internationally revealing the seriousness of the water situation in Iraq.