The Middle East: From Oil Wars to Water Wars?

Aug 10, 2016 | Mike Safadi
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In 1988, Egyptian Foreign Minister Boutros Boutros-Ghali said that the next war in the Middle East would be fought over water, not politics. What is the situation nearly 30 years on, as the region's water resources have dropped to precariously low levels and population figures have soared?

Shared water resources remain a source of contention and conflict in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. As the most water-scarce region in the world, the MENA also has one of the highest population growth rates in the world and demand for water in the agricultural, domestic and industrial sectors has risen beyond what can be sustainably supplied.

Yet despite its vital economic, social and political role, water is still undervalued and widely mismanaged by national governments and users throughout the region. Moreover, cooperation over shared water resources remains minimal despite the fact that large parts of the MENA region are part of shared surface or groundwater basins.