UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies: History and Framework for Addressing Water-Related Conflicts in the Tigris-Euphrates Basins

Join for our webinar series on the Euphrates-Tigris, one of the most iconic river basins in the world. For at least six thousand years, its waters have been at the core of agricultural and economic development in the region, giving birth to one of the first world civilizations: the Mesopotamia (known in Arabic as ‘bayn al nahrein’ or ‘between the rivers’).

Throughout the past century, the basin has been going through massive technological, socio-economic and political transformations, which have contributed to change the course of history and even the course of the river. Alongside, the Euphrates-Tigris basin has become a hotspot of regional and global geopolitics. Will intense hydropolitical dynamics impact peace and security in the region? Or can they be an entry point to foster regional collaboration and cooperation that reaches well beyond the rivers’ banks?

The series brings together experts, researchers, practitioners and decision-makers from the four riparian countries - Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey - to debate the past and present hydropolitical developments in the basin. While at the same endorsing a looking-forward approach: What are the possible future scenarios, its implications and what can be the course of action starting from now?

Organized by Professor Mekonnen Gebremichael, the series gathers a global audience for critical and open discussion on the main challenges and opportunities faced by Euphrates-Tigris region.