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Water

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Water, War and Peace in the Jordan River Valley

Introduction
The Great Rift Valley extends longitudinally from northern Syria more than three thousand miles into southeastern Africa. Sweeping laterally across North Africa, Arabia, and Asia we find the world’s most immense expanse of deserts. At the crossroads of this desert space and Great Rift Valley, the Jordan River flows two hundred miles from its sources in Lebanon, Syria and Israel to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth . This dramatic geographic setting is home to some of the most ancient and continuously sedentary civilizations in known history.
In this essay I intend to briefly explore the ecological history, sources, and climatic changes of the Jordan River, and give an overview of its political history. In a more in-depth investigation I will inquire how population increases during the past century have contributed to both conflict and cooperation between the diverse inhabitants of the region. Focusing on the major issues of water usage, distribution, and control, I will examine the negotiations, agreements, treaties, development projects and international laws governing the use of water from the Jordan River watershed. How have war, land disputes, and peace affected the management and distribution of this water? What is written in legal documents, and how successfully have terms of agreements been implemented? What importance do the clauses about water in the recent Jordan/Israel peace accords have, and how can cooperation lead to sustainable, intelligent and equitable management of water? Finally, I will consider the future of fresh water supplies and explore how neighboring water systems might potentially help to alleviate severe shortages foreseeable in the near future.

Missing theme?: pswrite

Without the attention and assistance of the United States and major international organizations, a major water crisis will occur in the Jordan River Basin in the next ten years. By focusing on the availability of Turkish water supplies, there is an opportunity to make major advances to achieving stability and peace in the region.

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