Recursos naturais, conflitos armados e hegemonia: a questão hídrica no conflito israelo-palestino (2000-2022)

Abstract

The rise of the environmental issue as an international security agenda allowed the expansion of studies that relate two important factors: natural resources and armed conflicts. The focus of these studies is, in general, to understand how natural resources act in the development of conflicts. Although this relationship extends to other types of resources, such as oil and precious minerals, water is conceived as one of those that most influence the emergence or intensification of conflicts. One of the main examples is the case of the waters of the Jordan River, disputed by Israel, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon. Therefore, the objective of this work is to analyze the evolution of water resources in the analysis of armed conflicts. For this, the qualitative method is used, based on the classic literature review through bibliometric analysis that deals with the relationship between natural resources and armed conflicts, and on the case study of the wars between Israel and Palestine over the transboundary water resources of the Jordan River. With this, it is possible to perceive the possibility of water playing a target role in wars, in addition to being a tool for the development of conflicts, in situations of water scarcity. In addition, water resources can evolve to the point of being used as an instrument of power, consolidating a situation of water hegemony. Finally, the case of the conflict between Israel and Palestine demonstrates that the water issue has evolved from a target of conquest - mainly with the Israeli occupation of the territories in the Six Day War - to a tool for maintaining hegemonic power in the region by Israel until nowadays.