Water Conflicts: From Ancient to Modern Times and in the Future

Andreas N. Angelakis, Mohammad Valipour, Abdelkader T. Ahmed, Vasileios Tzanakakis, Nikolaos V. Paranychianakis, Jens Krasilnikoff, Renato Drusiani, Larry Mays, Fatma El Gohary, Demetris Koutsoyiannis, Saifullah Khan and Luigi Joseph Del Giacco
Additional contact information
Andreas N. Angelakis: HAO-Demeter, Agricultural Research Institution of Crete, 71300 Iraklion, Greece
Mohammad Valipour: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Water Resources Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Abdelkader T. Ahmed: Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Aswan University, Aswan 81542, Egypt
Vasileios Tzanakakis: Department of Agriculture, School of Agricultural Science, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 71410 Iraklion, Greece
Nikolaos V. Paranychianakis: School of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece
Jens Krasilnikoff: Department of History and Classical Studies, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Renato Drusiani: Utilitalia, Piazza Cola di Rienzo, 00192 Roma, Italy
Larry Mays: School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
Fatma El Gohary: National Research Centre, Water Pollution Research Department, Bohouth Str. Dokki, Cairo 12622, Egypt
Demetris Koutsoyiannis: Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Heroon Polytechneiou 5, 15780 Zographou, Greece
Saifullah Khan: Institute of Social Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Punjab 60000, Pakistan
Luigi Joseph Del Giacco: Utilitalia Water Department, 00192 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-31

Abstract: Since prehistoric times, water conflicts have occurred as a result of a wide range of tensions and/or violence, which have rarely taken the form of traditional warfare waged over water resources alone. Instead, water has historically been a (re)source of tension and a factor in conflicts that start for other reasons. In some cases, water was used directly as a weapon through its ability to cause damage through deprivation or erosion or water resources of enemy populations and their armies. However, water conflicts, both past and present, arise for several reasons; including territorial disputes, fight for resources, and strategic advantage. The main reasons of water conflicts are usually delimitation of boundaries, waterlogging (e.g., dams and lakes), diversion of rivers flow, running water, food, and political distresses. In recent decades, the number of human casualties caused by water conflicts is more than that of natural disasters, indicating the importance of emerging trends on water wars in the world. This paper presents arguments, fights, discourses, and conflicts around water from ancient times to the present. This diachronic survey attempts to provide water governance alternatives for the current and future.

Keywords: water conflict; water policy; water tension; water violence; water management; water crises; water arguments; water politics; water mafia; water scarcity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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