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Turkish Use of Water As A Weapon To Pressure Kurds
March 18th, 2020
Via Future Directions International, a report on Turkey’s use of water as a weapon to pressure Kurds: There have been concerns that the fragile security situation in parts of north-eastern Syria could be undermined by a lack of water. According to Al-Monitor, Turkey increased its pressure on Kurdish-controlled north-eastern Syria last month, by stopping the Alok […]
Read more »Water Shortage and Unrest In Iraq
November 25th, 2019
Via Global Risk Insights, a report on the link between water shortages, politics, and unrest in Iraq: Around 70% of Iraq’s water comes from sources outside of its territory, predominantly originating in Turkey and Iran. Since 1975, the flow of water from the Euphrates and Tigris rivers from Turkey into Iraq has declined by 80%. Over 80% of Iraq’s current water […]
Read more »War For Water? Iraq, Syria, and Turkey To Fight Next Over Rivers?
July 27th, 2018
Via Newsweek, a look at water tension in the Middle East: The next war in the Middle East could be fought over water as Iraq, Syria and Turkey scramble to assert claims to two vital rivers that run through the region, according to a new report. Nabil al-Samman, a Syrian expert on international waters, made the case for […]
Read more »Catastrophic Drought Threatens Iraq As Dams In Surrounding Countries Cut Off Water To Its Great Rivers
July 4th, 2018
Via The Independent, an article on how – after decades of war – Iraq is in danger of losing the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates as Turkey, Syria and Iran dam its rivers, turning parts of the country into desert: “I once rescued a friend from drowning when he was swept away by the force of […]
Read more »A Watershed Moment for Iraqi Kurdistan: Subnational Hydropolitics and Regional Stability
May 24th, 2018
Via the Wilson Center’s New Security Beat, an article on the hydropolitics of Kurdistan, Syria, and Iraq: Iraqi Kurdistan is blessed with abundant water resources, but these resources are under increasing stress. Changing demographics, dam building in neighboring countries, and drought have driven Kurdish hydropolitics to a critical juncture where two distinct water futures are […]
Read more »Water Conflict: Will A Drying Iran Face Syria’s Fate?
January 24th, 2018
Via Geopolitical Monitor, a look at the potential for water related unrest in Iran: Perhaps one of the most quoted predictions regarding the increasing role of water conflicts in global affairs belongs to former vice-president of the World Bank Ismail Serageldin, who in 1995 famously claimed, “Many of the wars of this century were about oil, […]
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