Water Security for Palestinians and Israelis: Towards a New Cooperation in Middle East Water Resources by Christopher Ward, Sandra Ruckstuhl, and Isabelle Learmont

Shared water resources in Israel and Palestine are often the site of political, economic, historical, legal and ethical contestation. In this, the second of two volumes on the subject, the authors look beyond the political tensions of the region, to argue for the need for shared water security and co-operative resource management.

Winning Water Security for Palestinians and Israelis, the authors assess water security in terms of security of access to water resources, security of access to water services and security against risks to and from water. The volume compares and contrasts Israelis remarkable water security with the corresponding water insecurity of the Palestinians. The authors also set out the practical, economic, legal and ethical rationale for a revised cooperation on water security between the two peoples, proposing a workable scheme for putting into practice a new form of cooperation that would hope to benefit both peoples and strengthen their water security.

Christopher Ward is a scholar on water and the environment with a particular interest in the Middle East. He studied at St John's College and St Antony's College, Oxford. After 25 years working at the World Bank, he joined the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, UK. He is the author of The Water Crisis in Yemen (2015) and of Water Scarcity, Climate Change and Conflict in the Middle East (2018). as well as of numerous studies and articles, most recently on water scarcity in Viet Nam and Indonesia, and of a monograph on desalination.

Sandra Ruckstuhl is a scholar and researcher who specializes in water and natural resource management, conflict and peacebuilding. She holds a MSc and PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from the Carter School at George Mason University. She is the co-author of Water Scarcity, Climate Change and Conflict in the Middle East (I.B.Tauris 2018). She is currently Special Advisor and Senior Researcher at the International Water Management Institute.

Isabelle Learmont is a scholar and researcher who has taught at universities in Saudi Arabia and the United States. She holds BA, MA and Ph.D degrees from Queen Mary University of London and has spent many years living and working in the Middle East. She is currently a director of the consultancy firm Isca Strategies.

Year: 2023

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