The articles in this module ask you to consider water management, drought, water scarcity, and water insecurity in parts of the Middle East. The articles’ authors make controversial arguments, so I encourage you to think critically about the articles and consider their sources carefully.

Read:

• Cole, “Did ISIL Arise Partly Because of Climate Change?”
• Hammer, “Is a Lack of Water to Blame for the Conflict in Syria?”
• Holthaus, “Hot Zone: Is Climate Change Destabilizing Iraq?”
• Elver, “Turkey’s Rivers of Dispute”
• Korody, “Water Wars: The Islamic State and the Mosul Dam”
• Ahmed, “New Age Of Water Wars Portends ‘Bleak Future’ For The Middle East”

Write a blog post of 300-500 words addressing this prompt:

In his article “Moslem Water Law and Its Influence on Spanish Water Law and the Irrigation System of Valencia,” George Radosevich argues for the importance of comparative analysis of water systems. In our articles for Module 8.2, we learn some of the history of water resource management in the various countries of the Middle East (including Turkey, which is alternately counted as a Middle Eastern or Mediterranean country, depending on context).

If you could rewind time, traveling back to the past to advise Middle Eastern leaders about water resources, what would you advise them to do? Be specific; name the country or countries you are talking about, and reference particular engineered structures and systems. What would you keep the same, and what would you recommend they do differently? Based on what little you have learned from course readings of the various cultures in the region and the political situations there, do you think the leaders would view your recommendations as worth implementing? Explain your reasoning.

Finally, imagine Dr. Madsen-Brooks asked you to turn this recommendation into a formal research paper. Name at least three pieces of information about the past that you’d need that aren’t in these articles. Where would you look to find this information about the past? Again, be as specific as possible.

Be sure to tag your post with both your group number and the appropriate category, then comment on your group members’ posts.

Post due on class blog by Saturday, March 5 by 11 p.m.