Water Scarcity and Political Stability: Analyzing the Role of Water Resource Management in the Arab World

Abstract

This thesis is a critical examination of the dynamic and complicated liaison between water shortages and political stability in the Arab world, but mainly on the representative case of Egypt. This country was chosen because of its political system disparities, a fully centralized authoritarian state, and its different levels of hydrological vulnerability and institutional capacity. The study is based on a multi-disciplinary theory which argues that the assessment of water-related trials goes hand in hand with the governance systems, boundary politics between water resources, social inequality, and citizens' perceptions towards water resources' legitimacy. It examines how political tensions associated with water insecurity in Egypt are either enhanced or countered by the government, through either securitizing it, institutional reform, repressive measures, and approaches to international reputation and relation management. Evidence-based research findings indicate that water scarcity is a more dire ecological problem than a technical issue; it is indeed a political tool that can be used to enhance the control or allow institutional corruption, depending on the manner in which it is handled and reported. Although Egypt depends on securitized narratives and mega-infrastructure to hold itself together, institutions are fragile. The thesis makes contributions to the academic conversation of resource politics, how environmental governance is done, and the resilience of authoritarianism, by providing novel understandings of how the politics of scarcity is negotiated in Arab states. It is summarized with the policy proposals on institutional resilience, improved regional water diplomacy, and the transparent and inclusive governance of water to ensure destabilization can be avoided in a water-stressed and geopolitically over-stressed region.