Water, conflict and cooperation: Geographical perspectives

This article addresses the question of whether water as a geographic feature enhances the likelyhood that a state would go to war. Over the past few decades, geopolitical literature on water's role in international conflict has increased, and the 1990s have seen a turn toward considering water in terms of cooperation, rather than conflict. Drawing on a vast literature on geography's role in international relations, and analysing key concepts of ‘hydro‐strategic territory’ and ‘environmental security’, the article examines the validity of this claim. Through a critical examination of the hydropolitics of the Middle East, it is established that while water may be a source of international tensions, it is more often the subject of intense negotiation that an object or cause of armed conflict.