Water in the Middle East: A Catalyst for Conflict or Foundation for Cooperation
Abstract
The competing demand for fresh water resources in the Middle East is commonly viewed as a source for future conflict. Articles in academic publications by Peter Gleick, Joyce Starr and Daniel Stoll highlight the potential for conflict over water. The colonial legacy and the subsequent self-determination of emerging nation states, disparities in wealth, culture, ethnicity, religion as well as geography contribute to the serial episode of internal and external violence. Add to these the increasing demand for water by a rapidly expanding population and it is easy to understand how this environmental issue could trigger conflict. However, the fact that interstate conflict has not yet erupted over this issue is notable. Water, perhaps the most valuable of finite natural resources, presents the potential to serve as a catalyst for stability and multinational cooperation instead of conflict. While history demonstrates that access to water can be a contributing factor to conflict, it also shows it to be an issue on which understandings and agreements can be based. The role for developing such confidence building measures is ideally suited to the United States, which, with it's economic and political power can, build a multinational solution to this regional water problem.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 07, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA414535
Entities
People
- David L. Bartlett
Organizations
- United States Army War College