With the rise of the Islamic State, civil wars, the largest refugee crisis in recent history, and governments that are alarmingly both inefficient and corrupt, current conditions in the Middle East are dreary, to say the least. Scientists and historians are now finding that many of these problems either stemmed from, or are exacerbated by, the water conflicts and shortages that have plagued this region. If I could go back in time and give advice to Middle Eastern leaders about water resources, I would warn them about fighting over their water sources and teach them ways to conserve water. The countries I would address include Iran, Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. They would be told about ways to utilize canals, wells, and water pipelines to disperse water from places where it is more plentiful to where it is scarce, as well as store water from the wet seasons to be used in times of drought. I would also tell them about ways to recycle waste water and the technology used to desalinate water from the ocean. Lastly, and most importantly, I would advise them to implement policies that regulate the amount of water people can use to prevent the overuse of important aquifers.

The current conflicts in the Middle East show that they have not been doing much right regarding their water resources. I don’t think there is anything that I would say they did right in this situation that I would keep the same. While the dams that these countries have built have the potential to be valuable resources both socially and economically, they are instead used to hoard water (in the case of Turkey) or as a dangerous weapon (in the case of the Mosul Dam).

While I would like to believe that the leaders would heed my recommendations, I have a feeling that they would be too prideful and rather take my suggestions as offensive to their way of life. Even today, leaders in the Middle East tend to be stubborn and not heed the warnings of the rest of the world.

Three pieces of information I would need from the past to turn this into a formal research paper:

• The water resource technology available to these countries during this time
• The climate and weather patterns in these countries
• Detailed reports on the amount of water being used per person

I would find this information through the on-campus library and its online resources. I would look for peer reviewed articles to ensure that my resources are credible.