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

Publication ,  Journal Article
Weinthal, E; Zawahri, N; Sowers, J
Published in: International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics
September 24, 2015

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.

Duke Scholars

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Published In

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics

DOI

EISSN

1573-1553

ISSN

1567-9764

Publication Date

September 24, 2015

Volume

15

Issue

3

Start / End Page

293 / 307

Related Subject Headings

  • International Relations
  • 4803 International and comparative law
  • 4802 Environmental and resources law
  • 4407 Policy and administration
  • 1801 Law
  • 1606 Political Science
  • 1605 Policy and Administration
 

Citation

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Weinthal, E., Zawahri, N., & Sowers, J. (2015). Securitizing Water, Climate, and Migration in Israel, Jordan, and Syria. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 15(3), 293–307. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-015-9279-4
Weinthal, E., N. Zawahri, and J. Sowers. “Securitizing Water, Climate, and Migration in Israel, Jordan, and Syria.” International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics 15, no. 3 (September 24, 2015): 293–307. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-015-9279-4.
Weinthal E, Zawahri N, Sowers J. Securitizing Water, Climate, and Migration in Israel, Jordan, and Syria. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics. 2015 Sep 24;15(3):293–307.
Weinthal, E., et al. “Securitizing Water, Climate, and Migration in Israel, Jordan, and Syria.” International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, vol. 15, no. 3, Sept. 2015, pp. 293–307. Scopus, doi:10.1007/s10784-015-9279-4.
Weinthal E, Zawahri N, Sowers J. Securitizing Water, Climate, and Migration in Israel, Jordan, and Syria. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics. 2015 Sep 24;15(3):293–307.
Journal cover image

Published In

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics

DOI

EISSN

1573-1553

ISSN

1567-9764

Publication Date

September 24, 2015

Volume

15

Issue

3

Start / End Page

293 / 307

Related Subject Headings

  • International Relations
  • 4803 International and comparative law
  • 4802 Environmental and resources law
  • 4407 Policy and administration
  • 1801 Law
  • 1606 Political Science
  • 1605 Policy and Administration