TITLE:
Can Integrated Water Resources Management Contribute to Sustainable Peace in the Middle East?
AUTHORS:
Khaldoon A. Mourad, Ronny Berndtsson, Karin Aggestam
KEYWORDS:
Lake Tiberias; Negotiations; Comprehensive Peace
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.1 No.1,
February
6,
2013
ABSTRACT: Water resources issue in the Middle East is an important question related to the 4th June 1967 line in the Middle Eastpeace process. This paper focuses on possibilities within the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approach to contribute to the peace process between what is calledIsraeland Arab countries emphasizing fruitful cooperation to resolve the 4th June 1967 line issue. The paper shows that start of a possible cooperation could be founded on interest-based negotiations and built on IWRM principles by a simple geographical allocation plan for theLake Tiberiaswater together with a joint environmental protection plan to build cooperation instead of confrontation and integration instead of fragmentation. In a better cooperative climate, withdrawing from the 4th June 1967 line could be a possibility because negotiation results would incur safer access to sustainable water resources and a comprehensive peace.