By Daisye Rainer
In the Middle East, water is potentially the greatest weapon a state can have. The region has for decades experienced the effects of water scarcity, which has been exacerbated by a multitude of factors such as climate change and poor agricultural practices. But no factor bears the most influence on water insecurity than the region’s political conflicts.
First, populations in the Middle East are heavily dependent upon agriculture to survive and meet basic needs. In his book Farming Systems and Food Security in Africa, John Dixon calculated that approximately 70% of those living in rural areas rely on agriculture alone, and Alexandra Barton estimated that water withdrawals for farming account for 85% of total water withdrawals across the region.
But in reality, this water insecurity impacts much more than the 84 million farmers in the Middle East dependent upon water for irrigation to survive. Water is the root of so much of our world, and its decline will affect all populations in the future. For example, a lack of water harms major water-using sectors, like manufacturing, energy, and construction, which won’t be able to satisfy consumer needs and will see a decline in profit. Water, then, is crucial to not simply a country’s agricultural sector but its entire economy. And with a declining availability of water for a dependent population, it has become a tool of war.
The scarcity of the resource has increased tension among competing neighboring states, with conflict arising particularly among states who share a body of water, like the Jordan River, and has resulted in geographical and political disputes. Historically, these states have competed for water by diverting from the source at extreme rates, leading to political conflict and in even some cases, war.
But recently, the rise of extremist groups—namely ISIS—has severely impacted water security in the Middle East. Syria and Iraq present the most telling illustrations of water’s influence on political stability and politics’ influence on water security. Water here has been targeted, sequestered, and seized as means of political intimidation and deprivation. According to Globalist author Markus Heinrich and People author Lisdey Espinoza Pedraza, ISIS has launched multiple offensives since 2014 to conquer Syrian and Iraqi dams that hold enough water to sustain their respective populations. CNN also reported that ISIS-inflicted violence in Mosul, Iraq against Iraqi-led militant groups in 2016 led to the destruction of a major water line in the city, depriving half a million civilians of water. In extreme cases such as these, humanitarian aid cannot transport enough water for the millions of people affected. Political unrest and conflict have also displaced many people in the past decade, which, according to Phillip Connor of Pew, has almost doubled the number of migrants in the region and further imposed pressure and stress on the water scarcity issue.
The Middle East, especially Iraq and Syria, will continue to feel the effects of water insecurity as long as political tension exists in the region. Any direct action to combat the political groups would only aggravate conflict and possibly instigate violence against civilians. For this reason, solving this issue is a challenge: we must both seek policy solutions to safeguard the availability of water through measures such as water management reform and wrest the control of water from extremist groups who have sought to deprive their victims of earth’s most important resource.
