Rivers of Fire: The Conflict over Water in the Middle East

In a neverending battle to match population growth with food and energy production, the countries of the Middle East have been frenziedly developing water resources, including international rivers and groundwater, without considering their neighbors' needs as well. The inevitable result has been more frequent and increasingly bitter conflicts. At the same time, a halting ArabIsraeli peace process spurred by the collapse of the Soviet Union continues. Are we indeed entering a new era in a new Middle East? Do the region's leaders understand that reality has changed and that a transition is inevitable? Focusing on international rivers and ground water in the region, this timely study provides thoughtfulif pessimisticanswers to these questions. Encompassing all water sources in the Middle East, Arnon Soffer thoroughly explores the Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, Jordan, Orontes, and Litani Rivers, as well as international groundwater. He also weighs the implications of going to war over water and such unconventional solutions to the water shortage as desalination and importation.

Arnon Soffer is professor of geography at the University of Haifa, Israel.