Water in the Middle East: Potential for Conflicts and Prospects for Cooperation

x, 190 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. Summary:In the 1980s, scientists, politicians and journalists frequently emphasized, particularly on the Jordan, Euphrates and Nile Rivers, that conflicts over shared water resources would lead to "water wars". A closer analysis shows that non-water issues have played the major role when conflicts in the region became heated, with the water issue being politically implemented. However, the unregulated and unequitable access to international rivers and the unilateral development of irrigated agriculture add to already high political tensions. The authors reveal that multilateral agreements over shared waters are a realistic option even in politically strained situations, if the expected costs of non-agreement are perceived as too high. If cooperation is beneficial to all Middle East nation states, it is easier to shift from overemphasis on national sovereignty to the concept of restricted national sovereignty and integrity which corresponds to international law. Contents: Introduction / Waltina Scheumann and Manuel Schiffler 1. International Water Law: Regulations for Cooperation and the Discussion of the International Water Convention / Jorg Barandat and Aytul Kaplan 2. International Water Agreements: A Comparative View / Manuel Schiffler 3. The Middle East Peace Process: Obstacles to Cooperation over Shared Waters / Jochen Renger 4. Transboundary Externalities and Regional Integration / Rainer Durth 5. Contested Waters: Dividing or Sharing? / Ulrich Kuffner 6. The Jordan River Basin: Prospects for Cooperation Within the Middle East Peace Process? / Ines Dombrowsky 7. Conflicts on the Euphrates: An Analysis of Water and Non-water Issues / Waltina Scheumann 8. Conflicts over the Nile or Conflicts on the Nile? / Manuel Schiffler Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses (21 May 1997) Interim Agreement Between the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (28 September 1995) Agreement Between the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area (4 May 1994) Treaty of Peace Between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (26 October 1994) Agreement Between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Syrian Republic for the Utilization of the Yarmouk River (3 September 1987) Agreement Between the Republic of the Sudan and the United Arab Republic for the Full Utilization of the Nile Waters (8 November 1959).…