ABSTRACT
Environmental conflicts, especially in relation to transboundary waters, are emerging as an important dimension of peace and security for the Middle East. There are four major, unresolved regional disputes over the distribution and management of waters, one is a complex controversy over water allocation rights in the Euphrates/ Tigris River basin among Turkey, Syria and Iraq, the other two involving the Jordan River basin and West Bank groundwater. The last one is despite having the agreement between some riparian countries, the biggest river in the region, Nile and conflict over some other riparians. These complex freshwater resources present the interplay of environmental, economic, cultural, political, and ethnic factors that in their aggregate pose a severe threat to peace and security in the region.
