THE Water it is an essential natural resource, considered strategic due to its importance to people's lives and of societies and also because it is not distributed equally across the globe, with regions that have less and others more. For this reason, water resources have always been a reason for debates and disputes throughout history. However, what was to a lesser degree in the past could become the great tonic of the 21st century, which could see an unprecedented number of conflicts over water between countries.
With population growth and, mainly, with the spread of modern agriculture, water has been consumed in an increasingly large and intensified way. On the other hand, pollution and the unsustainable use of nature cause a decrease in its availability in the world. In many places, political instability and tensions between governments over water are already a reality.
The Middle East is one of the places where most happens and can happen water disputes. In fact, she was already the motivation for some actions in an area of great political tension: in 1967, during the
Six Day War, Israel invaded the Golan Heights, in Syria, both for its strategic position and for the fact that this the location is home to the sources of the Jordan River, necessary for both Israelis and the Jordan.Currently, in the territory of Palestine, the local population is deprived of access to local sources by the Israeli government, being a of the factors that heighten political instability in an area with large deserts and little potential water.
another zone of geopolitical instability due to water and the Turkey and your neighbors Iraq and Syria. The issue revolves around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which supply the Syrians and Iraqis, but whose sources are located in Turkish territory. In 2009, a drought in the region slowed the flow of rivers and made relations even more strained as Iraq began to accuse the other two countries of using the waters of the rivers in question above what is allowed, which triggered a lack of water in the parents. The Turks, however, claim that they emit more water through rivers than is agreed in international agreements. Meanwhile, tensions are mounting in the region and the question remains open: will this be a focus of armed conflict in the future?
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This issue around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is not great news. Turkey's official position, for example, is that "water [from rivers] is as Turkish as Iraqi oil is Iraqi." In 1998, there was almost a conflict between Turkey and Syria as the Turks started building dams and dams on the Tigris and Euphrates bed, which would reduce its flow in its downstream areas.
The logic in other regions of the world seems to be the same: the dispute is not just for the water itself, but for the control of their springs or for greater cooperation between countries in water courses that run through various territories politicians. In Africa, the Nilo river goes through the same dispute on the part of Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan; while Botswana, Namibia and Angola are similarly disputing the Okavango basin.
In addition to the dispute for the control of the springs of large inter-territorial rivers, the forecast for the course of the 21st century is the emergence of conflicts that also arise. associate with imperialist actions, in which countries start to invade or politically control other territories in search of obtaining water or importing it to a minor cost. For this reason, it is necessary to think of ways out to avoid an even greater scarcity of this resource, with measures aimed at its sustainability.
By Me. Rodolfo Alves Pena
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PENA, Rodolfo F. Alves. "Conflicts over water in the world"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/conflitos-pela-agua-no-mundo.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
