Water Scarcity, Conflict, and Migration: A Comparative Analysis and Reappraisal

Jan Selby and Clemens Hoffmann
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Jan Selby: Department of International Relations, School of Global Studies, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9SN, England
Clemens Hoffmann: International Relations, Bilkent University, 06800 Ankara, Turkey; e-mail clemens@bilkent.edu.tr

Environment and Planning C, 2012, vol. 30, issue 6, 997-1014

Abstract: How should we characterise the relations between environmental scarcity, conflict, and migration? Most academic and policy analyses conclude that scarcities of environmental resources can have significant impacts upon conflict and migration, and claim or imply that within the context of accelerating global environmental changes these impacts are likely to become more significant still. Many analyses admittedly recognise that these impacts are often indirect rather than direct and that there exist multiple ‘drivers’ of conflict and migration, of which environmental stresses are but one. We argue that even these qualifications do not go far enough, however: they still overstate the current and likely future significance of environmental changes and stresses in contributing to conflict and migration and underemphasise a far more important causal pathway—from conflict and migration to environmental vulnerabilities. These arguments are advanced via a comparative analysis of water—migration—conflict linkages in Cyprus and Israel and the West Bank and Gaza.

Keywords: water; conflict; migration; scarcity; Cyprus; Israel-Palestine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envirc:v:30:y:2012:i:6:p:997-1014

DOI: 10.1068/c11335j

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