Water Conflicts in a Historical Perspective. Environmental Factors in the Middle East Crisis

Abstract

This article analyses the importance of a water crisis in causing conflict, the use of water as a weapon and the environmental impact of wars, in the Middle East. In a context of increasing water scarcity, influenced by morphological constraints, population growth, economic development and diplomatic disputes between the riparian states of the Euphrates-Tigris basin, global climate change has caused a long period of drought that, in turn, exacerbated the preexistent situation and triggered conflict. In this war, Islamic State's strategies and tactics revolve around water, by using it as a weapon, as a mean for spreading terror, as a source for profit and as a political tool to legitimise its pseudo-State claims. Finally, this kind of war gravely harms the already critical environmental situation of the region and it is gradually going to make water the main purpose of conflicts.