Rivers of Fire

The Conflict over Water in the Middle East

By (author) Arnon Soffer, Murray Rosovsky, Nina Copaken

Hardback - £71.00

Publication date:

18 February 1999

Length of book:

320 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9780847685103

In 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 such unconventional solutions to the water shortage as desalination and importation.
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.