Water and conflicts in the #MiddleEast . A THREAD summarizing the main arguments & including valuable sources and examples:

Availability of water or water mismangement impacts #foodsecurity and consequently economic #resilience & socio-economic conditions. At worst, it can increase the risks of conflict. Ex: Basra, #Iraq, summer of 2018.

via @hrw https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/07/22/basra-thirsty/iraqs-failure-manage-water-crisis

Water scarcity affects inter-state relations. Ex: At the Euphrates & Tigris, the South-Eastern Anatolia Development Project in #Turkey reduced the water inflow to #Iraq and #Syria, straining relations between the three countries.

via @Clingendaelorg

https://www.clingendael.org/sites/default/files/2018-07/PB_PSI_water_challenges_Iraq.pdf

Water can be weaponized. When the Marsh Arabs rebelled against the Iraqi regime in the wake of the 1991 U.S invasion, Saddam Hussein responded by diverting the waterways, displacing more than 100,000 people. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290473455_The_Weaponization_of_Water_in_Syria_and_Iraq

More recent: #ISIS provided farmers with alternative sources of income &water supplies when the #droughts in Northeastern Iraq affected their livelihoods (2011 onwards), gaining at least their neutrality during IS’s territorial expansion.
via @euromesco
https://www.euromesco.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/JPS-15-Water-Security-in-the-Middle-East.pdf

Conflict spillovers can affect water stress (other way around): conflict fueled- #Migration puts pressure on water infrastructures in host countries, a factor contributing to “host-fatigue”: the #Jordanian example is key here.

via @CarnegieEndow

https://carnegieendowment.org/files/CP_247_Francis_Jordan_final.pdf

Wars can damage water infrastructure Ex: water infrastructure in #Iraq has constantly been deteriorating over the last four decades because it has been trapped in #conflict & post-conflict cycles. This affects stability, #development and #resilience.

https://www.clingendael.org/sites/default/files/2018-07/PB_PSI_water_challenges_Iraq.pdf

Concluding reminder: water stress will only increase in the near future due to #population growth, #economiccrisis, bad #Governance and higher temperatures brought about by #climatechange. This will impact #conflict dynamics and the livelihoods of many.