Leveraging Water Scarcity to Pursue U.S. Foreign Policy Objectives

Abstract

Global water scarcity concerns are recognized as national security concerns for the U.S. The riparian neighbors of Turkey, Iraq, and Syria are all affected by water scarcity dilemmas. Turkey's total control of the Tigris and Euphrates River Basin enhances Turkey's social, political and economic sway over Iraq and Syria. With the added effects of climate change, Iraq and Syria are experiences shortages of water contributing to drivers of social tension and instability. The U.S. has the capability and capacity to lead the world in a regional water initiative to stabilize the water crisis in Iraq. The U.S. in pursuit of strong policy measures to alleviate water scarcity issues in Iraq will uncover opportunities to promote U.S. interests and strengthen U.S. leadership in the Middle East.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 15, 2015
Accession Number
AD1175865

Entities

People

  • Ronnie L. Ii Goode

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Engineered Resilient Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Climate
  • Climate Change
  • Department Of State
  • Desertification
  • Drainage Basins
  • Droughts
  • Foreign Policy
  • Fresh Water
  • Geography
  • Governments
  • Intelligence Community
  • Intelligence Community (United States)
  • Middle East
  • National Security
  • Natural Resources
  • Political Systems
  • Security
  • Students
  • Terrorism
  • United Nations
  • United States
  • Urban Areas
  • Water Resources

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Asian Economic Studies
  • Distributed Systems and Data Platform Development
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.