Environment, Peacemaking and Peacebuilding in the Middle East: Examining Peace Park Proposals along Israeli - Arab Borders


Publisher: Tel Aviv University's Porter Schoolof Environmental Studies

Author(s): Sahar Sadeh

Date: 2016

Topics: Cooperation, Governance, Land

Countries: Egypt, Israel, Syrian Arab Republic

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The following research presents an analysis of the environment and peace nexus in the Middle East as manifested in repeated initiatives for peace parks along Israeli‐Arab borders between 1977 and 2011. The research examines the potential of the environment to serve as a catalyst for peace. To a lesser extent, it examines the potential of peace to promote environmentalism. It discusses the political power that was assigned to the environment in those cross‐border initiatives and explores the roles of governmental organizations, NGOs and individuals in promoting them. The study advances the historical narrative of the Middle East, with regards to the environment, by introducing new data on this nexus' manifestation via multiple case studies.