Water in the Middle East
Subtitle: Potential for Conflicts and Prospects for Cooperation
By: edited by Waltina Scheumann, Manuel Schiffler
Contributors: Schiffler, Manuel
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Berlin, Heidelberg
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] :
Number of pages: 191
ISBN-13: 9783642083761; 9783662037317
Subjects: Hydraulic engineering; Environmental economics; Economics; Environmental law; Regional planning
Description: In the 1980s, scientists, politicians and journalists frequently emphasized, particularly on the Jordan, Euphrates and Nile Rivers, that conflicts over shared water resources would lead to "water wars". A closer analysis shows that non-water issues have played the major role when conflicts in the region became heated, with the water issue being politically implemented. However, the unregulated and unequitable access to international rivers and the unilateral development of irrigated agriculture add to already high political tensions. The authors reveal that multilateral agreements over shared waters are a realistic option even in politically strained situations, if the expected costs of non-agreement are perceived as too high. If cooperation is beneficial to all Middle East nation states, it is easier to shift from overemphasis on national sovereignty to the concept of restricted national sovereignty and integrity which corresponds to international law.
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