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Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Freshwater Scarcity and Hydropolitical Conflict: Between the Science of Freshwater and the Politics of Conflict
Alex S. Wilner, Doctoral Candidate of Political Science, Dalhousie University
Abstract
On October 8, 1978, only a few short weeks after the formalized establishment of peaceful relations between Israel and Egypt, Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan was interviewed on the popular American political talk show Face the Nation. Nearing the final minutes of the interview and having exhausted the broader discussion of the actual logistical implementation of the Camp David Accords, Dayan, with remarkable political foresight, suggested a more fundamental problem plaguing the relations between his nation and its Arab neighbours. He asserted that within the region of the Middle East, "water is probably more valuable than land, because you can't do much with land without water, and anyone drilling for water in one place is affecting the water in the other place."1 Perhaps unbeknownst to his audience that day, Dayan's message was a veritable forewarning of the expected pattern of future conflict within the turbulent Middle East. Indeed, even on the eve of a most historic peace treaty between two deeply-entrenched and protracted rivals, Dayan's thoughts ultimately rested not on the mending of international fences but on the nature and causes of future conflict within the region, and on the increasing interconnection between the natural environmental and regional stability.