Melissa Kay Durham - Dissertation Proposal Defense: The Arab League's Role in Interstate Transboundary River Water Conflicts and Cooperation: 1943-2013

Dissertation Proposal Defense
Melissa Kay Durham
 

Monday, November 17; 2014
1:30 pm
Room 5000, Metropolitan Building

The Arab League's Role in Interstate Transboundary River Water Conflicts and Cooperation:
1943-2013

Chronic water scarcity in the Arab world, one of the globe's most politically-volatile regions, is likely to worsen and could be a growing source of tension in the region, or conversely, could be used as an opportunity to facilitate cooperation among riparian partners and foster broader peace-building initiatives. In the latter half of the twentieth century, the bulk of violent interactions between two states over river water occurred between Israel and one of its Arab neighbors. Since Arab countries share the same scarce transboundary river sources as they do with Israel, why haven't we seen a similar number of violent interactions between Arab states? Have Arab states had a similar level of conflict amongst themselves that did not turn violent because they have been more successful at working together to diffuse tensions over water scarcity, and if so, how? Given Arab states' historically antagonistic relationships with non-Arab neighbors, such as Israel, Iran, and Turkey, have they coordinated an escalation in conflict, whether violent or non-violent, against these non-Arab states over river water access? This dissertation project proposes using comparative case studies and content analysis to conduct a historical analysis aimed at uncovering the different roles that the Arab League—the pre-eminent organization for Arab collective action—has sometimes played in coordinating Arab states foreign riparian hydropolicies.