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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20150927T090000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20150928T170000
DTSTAMP:20260408T010657
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SUMMARY:The Geopolitics of Natural Resources in the Middle East Working Group I
DESCRIPTION:On September 27–28\, 2015\, CIRS convened the first Working Group under its research initiative on “The Geopolitics of Natural Resources in the Middle East.” The session was attended by ecologists\, geologists\, economists\, political scientists\, and other scholars with expertise on environmental issues in the Middle East. The purpose of the meeting was to present key geopolitical and environmental concerns in the Middle East\, and to identify gaps in the existing scholarship on the subject. Over the course of two days\, participants debated a number of topics that not only covered a general overview of geopolitics and natural resources in the region\, but also included case studies on environmental conditions in specific countries. \n\nThe Working Group opened with a debate on applying the theoretical framework of “geopolitics” to the topic of natural resources in the Middle East. Straddling vast reserves of oil and natural gas\, this region has been vulnerable to a host of geopolitical forces since the beginning of the twentieth century. Major powers\, including European countries\, the United States\, and Russia\, have historically attempted to remain influential in the resource-rich states of the Middle East\, and these dynamics of external intervention relating to regional resources have had a substantial impact on the region’s political economy. More recently\, shifts in the energy sector accompanied by a significant decrease in global oil prices may end up impacting the geopolitical arrangements in the region. Working group participants considered the possibility of waning U.S. interest in the Middle East as a result of diminishing dependency on Persian Gulf hydrocarbons due to the American surge in domestic shale oil and gas production. Asian powers\, including China and India are emerging as key consumers of Middle Eastern hydrocarbons\, which could also have geopolitical consequences for the region. Additionally\, the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) brings attention to the role of transnational non-state actors and regional natural resources. Working Group participants discussed ISIS’s conquest of territory around the Tigris-Euphrates river system\, paying particular attention to the question of whether ISIS is strategically attempting to build a “water” empire or whether it is primarily interested in controlling territory and oil. There was a general consensus amongst the group to conceive of geopolitics\, in the context of this research initiative\, as a general metaphor for examining the multiple transnational\, regional\, and domestic dynamics through which politics intersects with the management of environment and resources in the region. \n\nNatural resources have significantly impacted state formation in the Middle East. There has been a continuing sense of instability in the region over the course of the past few years\, particularly since the Arab Uprisings and the growth of ISIS. The oil-rich regimes of the Gulf\, including that of Bahrain—the primary Gulf state to experience its own significant Arab uprising—were largely able to maintain political stability\, and contain any attempts at anti-regime political mobilization. Working group participants as such highlighted the difference between the GCC and other Arab countries in relation to the Arab Spring\, and attributed the Gulf states’ relative political stability to their exceptional status as wealthy oil and natural gas states\, and the institutional path dependencies and resilience of the regional rentier bargains. In addition\, natural resources have also affected economic diversification in the region\, not only within the GCC but also as seen in the broader Middle East. Gulf economies are built around capital derived from an abundance of natural resources and an unlimited access to relatively cheap (migrant) labor\, as a result of which the theory on economics of scarcity does not appear to apply to this context. Scholars discussed the kind of economy that could actually be built as a result of these particular conditions prevalent in the GCC. There has been an assumption that rentier states are doomed to fail in terms of achieving substantial economic diversification\, as the existing political economy does not encourage innovation or high labor productivity. Over the past decade or more GCC countries have attempted to encourage economic diversification through pushing forward state projects on innovation and focusing efforts on the creation of knowledge-based economies. Many of the Gulf states also rely on portfolio diversification and Sovereign Wealth Fund investments as a means by which to move away from their dependence on hydrocarbon based revenues. \n\nAs is the case globally\, the Middle East has increasingly been adversely affected by climate change. Some of the environmental concerns facing the region include critical groundwater depletion\, water salinity\, increasing temperatures\, and pollution. Additionally\, the paucity of rivers and lack of hydropower and coal deposits have proven to be persistent obstacles faced by the states in the region. For much of its history\, people in the Middle East have relied upon an abundant livestock with largely sheep and goats being kept due to their ability to handle the climate. However\, things have changed with the discovery of oil and natural gas reserves\, and states have stepped in to manage the resources with fossil fuels becoming vital to rentier politics. There has been growing urbanization which has led to rural marginalization and degradation of traditional agricultural hubs in the Middle East. Rising income levels have also caused rapid lifestyles changes and the development of consumer culture in the GCC which has a direct impact on environmental resources\, straining existing water and energy sources and leading to discussion of how to curtail waste and consumption patterns. While discussing the political ecology of renewable and non-renewable resources and how the GCC landscape has been shaped by its fossil fuel industry\, participants raised the need to develop a more robust literature on environmentalism\, environmental attitudes\, and environment behavior in the Gulf as only a fragmentary collection of data on these topics exist. Since large numbers of foreigners reside in the Middle East\, the discussants also stressed the need to learn more about the attitudes and behavior of non-nationals in Gulf in relation to conservation and environment. \n\nIn addition to a general overview of the region\, the Working Group included country specific studies to highlight certain environmental problems. Mining of a less known natural resource – the sand\, to meet the increasing demands of the global construction industry was examined. According to statistics\, sand in Morocco is being extracted at a greater rate than it is being renewed. This has a severe impact on the environment resulting in degradation of coastline\, destruction of wetlands\, rising sea levels and subsequent flooding. Hence\, sand mining poses a threat to the Arab World where most of the capital cities are located on the coast. The issue of aforestation and “greening projects” in the United Arab Emirates was also discussed. Dubai has a vision to establish the first Middle East rainforest for educational and cultural purposes by 2020. However\, most of the species being used for that purpose are exotic ones that rely on too much water which exacerbates the already water-stressed conditions in the Emirate. During the Working Group experts discussed the need to counter current greening trends in the GCC and invest more energy in researching how indigenous species that use less water and have the ability to withstand high temperatures could be more broadly planted. Across the Middle East there is also a need to invest in genetically engineered crops that have stress-tolerant genes to withstand the frequent droughts that have been recently plaguing the region. \n\nThe discussants noted that the Middle East is a very water scarce region\, expected to experience acute water shortages in the near future as a result of population pressures and climate change. Rising temperatures and a decrease in precipitation have adversely impacted the water levels. There are more heat waves\, prolonged droughts and destructive floods in the region than before. For example\, Yemen is facing a serious water crisis with UNICEF anticipating the country to run out of water by 2020. The majority of the population in Yemen lacks access to safe water\, and water-borne diseases are widespread. There are studies which attribute the current state collapse to the severe water crisis in the country. Water scarcity is the most direct environmental issue for the Middle East\, and has a major impact on food security as agricultural production depends on water availability. Water shortages are devastating for the Yemeni economy as the country is also increasingly food insecure and need to enhance domestic agricultural production. In order to address water and food security concerns\, GCC countries have established institutions to increase domestic production despite the precarious nature of their water resources\, and also to develop overseas farmland in order to secure their food imports. For example\, Qatar\, amongst other GCC states\, has acquired farmland in Sudan and well as in other destinations\, although to date none of these efforts has led to active agricultural production overseas. \n\nWhile the participants in the Working Group addressed a multitude of topics ranging from geopolitics to environmental problems in the Middle East\, they all acknowledged that there is limited scholarship and data available on the environment in the region from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Through this research initiative the hope is to fill some of the existing gaps in literature.  \n\nSee the working group meeting agendaRead participant biographiesRead more about this research initiative \n\nParticipants and Discussants: \n\nMadalla Alibeli\, United Arab Emirates UniversityZahra Babar\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in QatarFarid Chaaban\, American University of BeirutJill Crystal\, Auburn UniversityLaura El-Katiri\, Oxford Institute for Energy StudiesAli El-Keblawy\, University of SharjahClement Henry\, National University of SingaporeMehran Kamrava\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in QatarMartin Keulertz\, Texas A&M Nexus GroupLaurent Lambert\, SESRI – Qatar UniversitySuzi Mirgani\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in QatarMaria Snoussi\, Université Mohammed V in Rabat\, MoroccoJeannie Sowers\, University of New Hampshire\, DurhamWessel N. Vermeulen\, University of OxfordElizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in QatarEckart Woertz\, Barcelona Centre for International Affairs\n\nArticle by Umber Latafat (SFS ’16) and Zahra Babar\, CIRS Associate Director for Research 
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/geopolitics-natural-resources-middle-east-working-group-i/
CATEGORIES:American Studies,Environmental Studies,Focused Discussions,Regional Studies
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20150929T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20150929T200000
DTSTAMP:20260408T010657
CREATED:20150915T080835Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240314T095109Z
UID:10001281-1443549600-1443556800@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Environment and Human Insecurity in the Middle East
DESCRIPTION:CIRS invited Jeannie Sowers\, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of New Hampshire\, to deliver the inaugural Monthly Dialogue of the 2015-2016 academic year on September 29\, 2015. The lecture titled “Environment and Human Insecurity in the Middle East\,” highlighted how human well-being and health are directly and indirectly affected by environmental challenges. Important challenges include the provision of urban infrastructures for water and sanitation and the impacts of man-made climate change on the Middle East and North Africa on water resources. \n\nSowers introduced the notion of an ecological shadow to highlight how environmental challenges often require decision-making and participation across multiple scales. An ecological shadow\, she explained\, is the “environmental harm from patterns of production\, consumption\, and disposal that is displaced elsewhere. This displacement can be to other people\, it can be to other places\, it can be\, of course\, displaced to other countries\,” as well as to future generations. While environmental awareness has been steadily increasing over time\, the conceptual distancing of ecological harm remains a serious and widespread problem all over the world\, and is\, essentially\, a prerequisite of economies driven by mass production and consumption. Industrial and industrializing nations often defer negative ecological costs upon those who are most vulnerable to ecological shifts\, including those weakest on the political scale\, such as poor communities and other species. \n\nSowers argued that there are a whole host of everyday issues that are often neglected when considering environmental challenges and the causes of human insecurity. One such example is the ubiquitous plastic water bottle that is widely produced\, consumed\, and discarded in the countries of the Middle East. Despite the seemingly innocuous everyday use of plastic water bottles\, Sowers argued that the material is a local as well as a global hazard at the level of its production and disposal. Around 8 percent of the global production of fossil fuels is used to sustain the plastics industry\, as a feedstock and as energy used in manufacturing. Even if Middle Eastern countries made serious efforts to encourage or enforce the reuse and recycling of plastics\, there still remains a problem with the material’s non-biodegradability. The seemingly small and everyday issue of plastic water bottles\, thus becomes a wider issue of environmental politics related to the political economy of plastic\, and the ecological shadow it casts. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\nInadequate government policies and activities regarding the collection and disposal of solid waste\, especially in the poorer countries of the Middle East and North Africa\, means that the accumulation of garbage\, and especially plastics\, have become serious problems for the surrounding environment\, including the contamination of air  and water\, with direct negative consequences for human health. Such solid waste problems also persist in “developed” countries. Despite some success with recycling efforts\, to date\, “the dominant strategy of waste management in the United States remains simply putting it somewhere else\,” Sowers said. \n\nLandfills are something that can perhaps be tolerated by countries with large\, empty landmasses\, but for a small and overcrowded country like Lebanon\, for example\, this solution is unsustainable in the long term. With the closure of the main landfill on the outskirts of Beirut\, there was a build-up of solid waste on the streets if the city\, and an outcry by the affected residents. “For environmental studies\, this whole field of inquiry about ecological shadows has been very closely tied to research on environmental justice\, which\, of course\, calls our attention to the unequal distribution of environmental benefits and harm for a given activity\, or a given product\,” she said. \n\nSowers offered Beirut’s “You Stink” campaign as a case study example of the convergence of political failure\, the environmental effects of mass production and everyday consumption\, and the resulting social activism that calls for environmental justice and government accountability. “The campaign itself\,” she said “is very interesting in that it mimics many of the strategies\, the tactics\, and the discourse that we see not only in other environmental campaigns in the Middle East and North Africa\, but also\, of course\, in the Arab uprisings more broadly.” \n\nUltimately\, the ecological shadows associated with the global fossil fuel economy have a long-term effect on climate change and the disruption of weather patterns\, which for the Middle East\, is a concern considering the already arid nature of many countries. Climate change and increases in weather and water pattern instability has a direct effect on human health and wellbeing\, with many communities becoming increasingly displaced\, both internally and internationally. \n\nIn conclusion\, Sowers asked a basic\, but fundamental question: “what can we do to reduce the intensity of these shadows?” She gave several suggestions\, including technocratic resource management; increasing resource efficiency for any given product; engaging in demand management; increasing mechanisms for environmental accounting by exposing hidden costs to consumers\, producers\, and governments; and environmental regulation and taxation. Ultimately\, however\, none of these suggestions will work successfully unless there is a unified\, systemic\, and inclusive approach to ecological shadows. “In order to have social engagement\, you have to start dealing with patterns of economic and political exclusion\,” Sowers concluded. \n\nJeannie Sowers focuses on the intersections between political economy and environmental issues in the Middle East\, particularly in Egypt where she has conducted extensive field research. She holds a PhD from Princeton University and a BA from Harvard University.  Selected publications include Environmental Politics in Egypt: Experts\, Activists\, and the State (Routledge\, 2013)\, The Journey to Tahrir: Revolution\, Protest\, and Social Change in Egypt (co-edited with C. Toensing\, Verso\, 2012)\, and articles in Development and Change\, Climatic Change\, Middle East Report\, and International Environmental Agreements.  She is on the editorial boards of the journals Global Environmental Politics and Middle East Report. \n\n  \n\nArticle by Suzi Mirgani\, Manager and Editor for Publications at CIRS
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/environment-and-human-insecurity-middle-east/
CATEGORIES:Dialogue Series,Environmental Studies,Regional Studies
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