Rivers of Fire: The Conflict Over Water in the Middle East

Arnon Sofer

Rowman & Littlefield, 1999 - Business & Economics - 303 pages

In a never-ending battle to match population growth with food and energy production, the countries of the Middle East have been frenziedly developing water resources, including international rivers and groundwate, without considering their neighbors' needs. The inevitable result has been more frequent and increasingly bitter conflicts. At the same time, a halting Arab-Israeli peace process spurred by the collapse of the Soviet Union continues. Are we indeed entering a new era in a new Middle East? Do the region's leaders understand that reality has changed and that a transition is inevitable? Focusing on international rivers and ground water in the region, this timely study provides thoughtful_if pessimistic_answers to these questions. Encompassing all water sources in the Middle East, Arnon Soffer thoroughly explores the Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, Jordan, Orontes, and Litani Rivers, as well as international groundwater. He also weighs the implications of going to war over water and such unconventional solutions to the water shortage as desalination and importation.

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• International Rivers: 7
• The Nile Basin: 17
• Geopolitics of the Euphrates and Tigris Drainage Basin: 73
• The JordanYarmuk Basin Conflict over Little Water: 119
• The Orontes River as a Geopolitical Problem: 205
• Internationalized Water Sources The Litani River: 213
• International Groundwater Conflicts in the Making: 225
• Nonconventional Solutions to the Problem of Water Shortages in the Middle East: 235
• Conclusion: 261
• Metric Conversion Table: 273
• References: 275
• Index: 293

About the author

Arnon Soffer is professor of geography at the University of Haifa, Israel.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Rivers of Fire: The Conflict Over Water in the Middle East; Middle East studies; Rivers of Fire: The Conflict Over Water in the Middle East, Arnon Sofer
• Author: Arnon Sofer
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999
• ISBN: 084768511X, 9780847685110
• Length: 303 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Real Estate / General; History / Middle East / General; Nature / Natural Resources; Political Science / International Relations / General