Hydropolitics and National Security (Case study: Persian Gulf Countries)

There is a long history of conflicts over water resources, extending back thousands of years into myths, legends, and ancient history. However, even now, in the modern world, disputes over access to water, the use of water as a weapon, and the targeting of water systems during conflicts remain all too common. It has been argued that water resources have rarely, if ever, been the sole source of violent conflict or war. However, this fact has led some international security “experts” to ignore the complex and real relationships between water and security, which remain a major challenge. Indeed, our work suggests that the risks of water-related violence and conflict is growing, not diminishing, as population, resources, and economic and environmental pressures on scarce water resources increase. Many of these risks are materializing at the sub-national level rather than as disputes among nations, but even at the national level, there are growing concerns about tensions in the Middle East and parts of Persian Gulf that share international rivers but lack international agreements over how to manage those waters. Recent international events in the Persian Gulf and other countries have, unfortunately, continued to lead to new entries. In addition, new information is being sent all the time by historians, water experts, and readers to update, correct, and expand the current chronology. Research method of this study is descriptive-analytical, research type is functional, and data collection is based on document and book study