water
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Water Weaponization: Its Forms, Its Use in the Russia-Ukraine War, and What to Do About It
Water has been associated with conflict and cooperation between states since the beginning of recorded history. In ancient Mesopotamia, a conflict over the Euphrates River between two Sumerian cities yielded the world’s first recorded treaty. However, water has just as often been weaponized during conflict—water weaponization being the exploitation of the human need for water,…
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New White House Action Plan Underscores Water Security as National Security
By Rod Schoonover On June 1, the Biden-Harris Administration released the White House Action Plan on Global Water Security, citing water’s role in national security as a primary motivation for its approach. In remarks delivered from the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Vice President Kamala Harris argued that “many of our…
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A Case Study in the Environmental Risks of War: Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant
By Richard Marcantonio The risks of warfare are complex. Beyond the often-devastating immediate humanitarian implications of large-scale violence, warfare’s impact on the broader environment is multifaceted, posing environmental, social, political, economic, and human health risks. The ongoing violence in Ukraine precipitated by Russia’s invasion has brought to the fore, again, the specter of these broader…
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Drought is Leading to Instability and Water Weaponization in the Middle East and North Africa
By Marcus D. King with Rianna LeHane Water stress is a growing problem worldwide. Overuse, population growth, and climate change are contributing to desperate conditions and violent extremist organizations (VEOs) are turning scarce water into a weapon. Nowhere is this trend more visible than in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), a region of…
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Why Water Conflict is Rising, Especially on the Local Level
By Peter Schwartzstein That future wars will be fought over water, rather than oil, has become something of a truism, particularly with regard to the Middle East. It’s also one that most water experts have refuted time and time and time again. But while this preference for cooperation over conflict may (and emphasis on may)remain…
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Why the Nile Constitutes a New Kind of Water Dispute – and Why That’s Dangerous
By Peter Schwartzstein Ever since workers first broke ground on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in 2011, international commenters have fixated on the Nile as a possible harbinger of future ‘water wars’ to come. And almost since then, water experts have pushed back against that narrative. There’s no reason for such giddy pessimism, they…
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The New Water Development Report and Implications for Security
By Dr. Marc Kodack Climate change has and will continue to have both direct and indirect effects around the world. Changes in water will be one of the most visible direct effects, whether it is too little water, such as during prolonged droughts; too much, such as flooding caused by sea-level rise, rivers, or tropical storms;…