Description
Book SynopsisIn 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 su
Trade ReviewHighlights the complexity of water issues in the region . . . provides a useful introduction to the elements of water scarcity that mark, and will continue to shape, the Middle East, whatever the political and environmental fortunes of the region may be. -- Shaul Cohen, University of Oregon * Middle East Journal *
A comprehensive study covering the geo-politics of water conflict in the Middle East. Rivers of Fire is an important and well-written book that should be read by anyone interested in water and environmental problems in the Middle East and by those interested in the international politics of the region. * International Journal of Middle East Studies *
The book's greatest strength is that it provides five beautifully crafted regional hydro- and political geographies. . . . The book's greatest offering to the North American reader is its capacity for modeling. Conflicts among Middle Eastern nation-states sharing the Nile or the Tigris-Euphrates, for example, serve as fine counterparts to conflicts among the several federal states and provinces sharing the waters of the Colorado, the Columbia, or the Rio Grande. * Professional Geographer *
Ground breaking work... Soffer's work still remains one of the most extensive examinations of the crisis of water in the Middle East. * American Journal of Islamic Social Studies *
For questions concerning river sources, flow regimes, development projects, relations among riparian states, potential solutions, and future prospects . . . Soffer is the answer man. -- L. M. Lewis, Eastern Kentucky University * CHOICE, September 1999 *
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 International Rivers Chapter 3 The Nile Basin Chapter 4 Geopolitics of the Euphrates and Tigris Drainage Basin Chapter 5 The Jordan-Yarmuk Basin: Conflict over Little Water Chapter 6 The Orontes River as a Geopolitical Problem Chapter 7 "Internationalized" Water Sources: The Litani River Chapter 8 International Groundwater Conflicts in the Making Chapter 9 Nonconventional Solutions to the Problem of Water Shortages in the Middle East Chapter 10 Conclusion Chapter 11 Appendix: Metric Conversion Table Chapter 12 References Chapter 13 Index
