أزمة المياه وأثرها في الأمن الاقتصادي العراقي (دراسة في الجيوبولتيك)

Water crisis and its impact on Iraqi economic security (A Study in Geopolitics)

Water is one of the most important pillars of national security in
general and economic security in particular in any country,
especially dry and semi-dry regions where there is less rain as in
the case of Iraq. The water in Iraq has become threatened more
than any time ago because of the effects of climate changes,
represented by the decline in rainfall amounts and high
temperature rates, as climate studies indicate that the Middle East
region is one of the most affected areas in climate changes.
What complicates the problem is Iraq’s dependence mainly on
surface water resources coming from outside the Iraqi borders,
represented by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers with geopolitical
problems with neighboring countries, especially with Turkey, and
this constitutes a geopolitical weakness that Iraq suffers
continuously from unless the water problem is resolved with
countries of the neighborhood, and without that Iraq’s water and
economic security will be threatened in the event of any political
tension occurring between it and the riparian neighboring
countries. That is why this thesis entitled the water crisis and its
impact on Iraqi economic security (a study in geopolitics), came to
reveal the most important reasons that lie behind the water crisis in
Iraq in all its natural and human aspects that are repeated from
time to time, and the resulting quantitative and qualitative effects
on water in Iraq causing Political economic, and social problems
for the Iraqi people and to reveal the most important effects of this
crisis on economic security Iraq with all its elements, in addition to
the security dimensions that are related and affect it, and that
affect the needs of Iraqis that rely heavily on water, and then
suggest a set of solutions that would address the problem, and
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reduce its repercussions at the national, regional and international
levels, The problem of the study came to express the most
important questions, which are the reasons behind the water crisis
in Iraq, and the impact of that crisis on economic security in Iraq
with its multiple elements, and what is its effect on other security
dimensions related to economic security, and what are the
effective solutions by which Overcoming the crisis, present and
future.
The hypothesis is that the water crisis has several natural and
human causes that led to a clear decrease in the amount of water
coming from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and that the water
crisis in Iraq has a clear impact on economic security with its
multiple elements, and the associated other security dimensions
can address the water crisis in Iraq through following several
solutions and future treatments. The study aims at finding effective
strategic treatments by which a radical solution to this problem can
be found. To achieve this, the researcher relied on the historical
and analytical approach, and a research plan was adopted that
included an introduction and four chapters. The first chapter
examines the concepts mentioned in the thesis, while the second
chapter tackles the causes of the water crisis in Iraq. The third
chapter focuses on the impact of the water crisis on the elements
of economic security and other security dimensions associated
with it, while the fourth chapter discussed future treatments for the
water crisis in an attempt to achieve economic security in Iraq. The
most important thing of the study mechanism concluded with is
that most of the water revenues flowing to Iraq come from outside
its borders, which constitutes a geopolitical weakness used against
Iraq politically and economically by those countries, as it suffers
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from water scarcity and of both quantitative and qualitative types.
The share of the Iraqi individual has decreased From imports of
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers from (7,048) thousand m 3 in the
year 1968 to (1,249) thousand m 3 in the year 2018, This decrease
is caused by the water policies of the countries of the headwaters
of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in addition to their pollution as a
result of wastewater discharge to them without treatment. The
agricultural sector accounts for the largest part of the water
consumption in Iraq and by (84,11%) as a result of using traditional
irrigation methods with a high percentage Lost, as the water crisis
has caused the widening food gap in Iraq, As its average size
reached about (2479,4) thousand / tons, and the high dependency
of food dependency index, which reached an average of (20,01%),
and that the water shortage led to shrinking agricultural spaces
and farmers ’migration to the city and the resulting negative effects
on security Societal and political in Iraq, Also, the water crisis in
Iraq is closely related to the inefficiency of integrated water
resources management, and this is evident by the low rate of
implementation of integrated water resources management (35%),
and this requires initiating effective strategies that can address the
crisis and ultimately to protect and ensure the flow of water Which
is considered the most important natural resource on the face of
the globe, and what ultimately leads to achieving Iraqi economic