POLITICS OF WATER RESOURCES IN THE JORDAN, NILE AND TIGRIS-EUPHRATES: THREE RIVER BASINS, THREE NARRATIVES

Abstract

The Middle East water question is mostly associated with the hydropolitical issues in the three main transboundary river basins of the region, namely the Jordan, the Nile, and the Tigris-Euphrates. This article provides an overview of the politics of the water resources in these basins with specific references to the major historical episodes in these geographies. The article begins with analyses of the types of water scarcities in order to explain the underlying causes of water crises in the three basins. Next, the politics of water resources in these pivotal river
basins are dealt with by focusing on the events in the first half of the 20th century. Here, the “colonial legacies” in the Nile and the Jordan are discussed. In the late 1920s, colonial water sharing agreements were concluded in the Nile basin with the full control of Britain. In the early 20th century, competitive water resources planning by the British and American engineers were conducted to respond to the looming needs of the burgeoning Arab and Jewish populations in the Jordan basin. In the period from the 1920s to the 60s harmonious water relations were observed in the Tigris-Euphrates basin, basically regulated through a series of historical bilateral political treaties. 

Keywords

• POLITICS
• RESOURCES
• JORDAN