A Securitization-perspective Analysis Of Water Disputes In The Middle East

Severe water shortage and uneven water distribution plague countries in the Middle East.As a strategic resource with competitive political nature,water resources are closely related to national security,and become the core resource arena that countries along the river basin compete for.This study argues that under the combined effect of the natural factors of water shortage,the geographical factors of uneven distribution of rivers across boundaries,and the subjective factors of water politics(the unfair setting of rules for water allocation),water disputes in the Middle East have become obstacles to regional peace,and the serious uneven distribution of water is the root cause of regional water disputes.Neither the historical water conflicts nor the existing water cooperation framework has solved the problem of balanced water distribution,which makes the people in basin countries directly face the crisis of survival rights and national security,and lays the fuse for the outbreak of regional water disputes and even future water wars.This study proposes the concept of “water securitization” based on the securitization theory,and applies it to the Jordan River basin,the Tigris-Euphrates River basin and the Nile River basin,aiming to solve the problem of why the water resources are unevenly distributed in the Middle East.The power-dominant state with asymmetric power in the river basin obtains the status of water hegemony by securitizing water,realizing the self-interested distribution of water resources,which leads to the uneven distribution of water resources,and ultimately leading to the outbreak of conflicts and disputes.Specifically,it mainly adopts three mechanisms of discourse securitization,behavioral securitization and institutional securitization.Looking ahead,water disputes in the Middle East will not be successfully resolved in a short period of time,and the de-securitization scheme is particularly important in resolving water disputes and easing the regional security tension.Only by adopting a multi-field joint strategy can it provide the possibility to effectively resolve water disputes in the Middle East.