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Securitizing Water, Climate, and Migration in Israel, Jordan, and Syria

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  • Erika Weinthal
  • Neda Zawahri
  • Jeannie Sowers

Abstract

Protracted droughts and scarce water resources, combined with internal and cross-border migration, have contributed to the securitization of discourses around migration and water in much of the Middle East. However, there is no clear understanding of the conditions under which water, climate change, and migration are conceived of as security concerns or of their policy implications. This article explores the different means through which Israel, Jordan, and Syria have framed issues of water, climate change, and migration as national security concerns. Based upon an analysis of governmental and publicly available documents, coupled with field interviews with Israeli and Jordanian policymakers, experts, and nongovernmental organizations, we identify two different framings of the water–climate–migration nexus, depending on whether migration is largely external or internal. In Israel and Jordan, concern with influxes of external migrants elevated migration as a security issue in part through impacts on already-scarce water resources. In Syria, where severe drought in the early 2000s prompted large-scale internal migration, officials downplayed connections between scarce water resources, drought, and internal migration, part of a broader pattern of rural neglect. Unlike much of the conventional literature that has posited a linear relationship between climate change, decreasing water availability, and migration, we provide a more robust picture of the water–climate–migration nexus that shows how securitized framings take different forms and produce several unintended consequences. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Erika Weinthal & Neda Zawahri & Jeannie Sowers, 2015. "Securitizing Water, Climate, and Migration in Israel, Jordan, and Syria," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 293-307, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ieaple:v:15:y:2015:i:3:p:293-307
    DOI: 10.1007/s10784-015-9279-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jeannie Sowers & Avner Vengosh & Erika Weinthal, 2011. "Climate change, water resources, and the politics of adaptation in the Middle East and North Africa," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 104(3), pages 599-627, February.
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    4. Jeroen Warner, 2012. "The struggle over Turkey’s Ilısu Dam: domestic and international security linkages," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 231-250, September.
    5. Eran Feitelson & Abdelrahman Tamimi & Gad Rosenthal, 2012. "Climate change and security in the Israeli–Palestinian context," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 49(1), pages 241-257, January.
    6. Itay Fischhendler & David Katz, 2013. "The use of “security” jargon in sustainable development discourse: evidence from UN Commission on Sustainable Development," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 321-342, September.
    7. Itay Fischhendler, 2015. "The securitization of water discourse: theoretical foundations, research gaps and objectives of the special issue," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 245-255, September.
    8. World Bank, 2007. "Making the Most of Scarcity : Accountability for Better Water Management Results in the Middle East and North Africa," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6845.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Fragaszy, S. & Fraj, M. B. & McKee, M. & Jobbins, G. & Al-Karablieh, E. & Bergaoui, K. & Ghanim, A. & Lawrenson, L. & McDonnell, Rachael, 2022. "MENAdrought synthesis of drought vulnerability in Jordan: final report. Project report prepared by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) for the Bureau for the Middle East of the United ," IWMI Reports 329160, International Water Management Institute.
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    5. Hussam Hussein & Fatine Ezbakhe, 2023. "The Water–Employment–Migration nexus: Buzzword or useful framework?," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 41(3), May.

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