Major Water Disputes Are Often beyond War and Peace

Sep 19, 2016 | Filippo Menga and The London Water Research Group
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Early this June, the Israeli government cut off drinking water to people living in the Salfit region of the West Bank and three villages east of Nablus. The consequences have been dire. Thousands of Palestinians have been left with no running water in their homes, and factories have been forced to shutter. The power imbalance that leaves Palestinians so vulnerable to Israeli turns of the valve plays out every year, made possible by Israel’s occupation of the water-rich Golan Heights in 1967. What is perhaps most surprising is that the situation persists.

The question analysts must answer is not whether there will be water wars, but how water conflicts can be so static and quiet, and yet so damaging. How have countries like Egypt, Turkey, and Israel held control over shared water for so long? As part of a series considering interstate power over water resources, our paper and others build on a 2006 piece introducing the concept of “hydro-hegemony,” the extensive control that some actors hold over water through a variety of forms of power.