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‘Blue Gold’ – Turkey’s Key To The ‘Dry Crescent’
December 11th, 2017
Via Global Risk Insights, a report on the impact of Turkey’s efforts to control the headwaters of key water resources in Syria and Iraq: Next year will mark a full century since the Ottoman Empire lost control of the areas now known as Syria and Iraq. Now Turkey is pursuing an increasingly nationalistic and assertive foreign […]
Read more »Running Out of Water: Conflict and Water Scarcity in Yemen and Syria
September 12th, 2017
Via the Atlantic Council, an article on conflict and water scarcity in Yemen and Syria: Photo: People gather around a charity tanker truck to fill up their jerrycans with drinking water in Bajil of the Red Sea province of Hodeidah, Yemen July 29, 2017. Water scarcity may not be the most apparent driver of conflict, […]
Read more »Is Syria Really A ‘Climate War’?
July 22nd, 2017
Via The Conservation, an interesting look at the links between drought, migration and conflict in Syria: The Syrian civil war has raged for more than six years now. You’ve probably heard the following story linking it to climate change: an intense drought, made more likely thanks to global warming, caused “mass migration” within the country from rural to […]
Read more »Three Maps Show How Water Access Can Make Or Break A Nation
March 7th, 2017
Via ValueWalk, a look at the importance of water access to nation states: Water access can impact a country’s geopolitics in many ways. The first (and one of the most obvious) is sea access. Access to the world’s oceans enables a country to use major maritime shipping routes. It also opens an additional route by which a […]
Read more »Syria: Uncertainty Following the Damascus Water Crisis
January 25th, 2017
Courtesy of Future Directions International, commentary on the Damascus water crisis: In late December 2016, the main water supply for Damascus and its surrounding region was cut off. The supply was reportedly cut off in the Wadi Barada area west of Damascus due to intense fighting between rebels and government forces over the area. Other […]
Read more »‘Water war’ Threatens Syria
January 3rd, 2017
Via Al Jazeera, a report on recent accusations from Damascus that rebels are polluting water supplies: Authorities in Syria say they have been forced to cut water supplies to the capital after rebels reportedly contaminated drinking water with diesel. The Damascus water authority said late on Friday that it had resorted to using water reserves […]
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