Arab Water Security Threats and Opportunities in the Gulf States

This book explores the national security implications of the Arab Gulf states' reliance on desalination plants, and their related infrastructure. It provides the first systematic and comprehensive discussion of current and future threats to the supply of freshwater from a desalination plant, including actual and virtual attacks by terrorists, mechanical failure, contamination, sabotage by aggrieved workers, and attacks relating to regional conflicts, as well as their vulnerability to natural disasters. It also provides a detailed analysis of the effects of a potential disruption to the water supply, and proposes possible measures, both political and technological, that can be used to increase resilience to these threats. Arab Water Security is a valuable reference for researchers and graduate students, as well as for policy makers and professionals, interested in water security, natural resources, and environmental terrorism.

Preface; 1. Rethinking water and food security in the Arab Gulf states; 2. Threats to water security; 3. Outsourcing farming; 4. Responses to water insecurity; 5. The future of water and food security; References; Index.

Hussein A. Amery is an Associate Professor in the Division of Liberal Arts and International Studies at the Colorado School of Mines, where he teaches courses on the political economy of resources, the Middle East, and water politics and policy. His academic expertise is in human and environmental security, transboundary water conflicts, and in identifying and analyzing threats to critical infrastructure in the Arab Gulf states and the wider Middle East. He was selected as Fellow by the International Water Association in 2005, and has served as consultant on desalination and other water issues to the American and Canadian governments, as well as engineering firms.