When Water becomes War: The Moral Failure of Global Governance in the Middle East

Aug 20, 2025 | Peiman Salehi
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The Middle East today is witnessing a transformation that goes far beyond conventional geopolitics or the competition for oil. One of the most urgent yet underexplored dimensions of its crisis is the question of water, which has increasingly become both a scarce commodity and a weapon in the hands of states and non-state actors alike. According to the Pacific Institute, in 2023 alone there were roughly 350 conflicts worldwide linked directly to water, and the Middle East particularly Palestine accounted for a disproportionate share of these incidents. This reality is not accidental. It reflects the way global climate change intersects with regional inequalities, colonial structures, and authoritarian governance to create a cycle of violence where access to water itself becomes a matter of survival, control, and domination.