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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Mohsen NagheebyORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Water diplomacy and conflict transformation are dominated by an interest-based paradigm, where attention is given solely to achieving security and peace. I intend to critically challenge this paradigm – which is mainly dominated by the views of the Global North – by emphasising two other important but often overlooked elements: equity and identity. I argue that diplomacy within the contemporary paradigm is easily manipulated by the broader security and peace interests of foreign powers in a manifestation of global and regional geopolitical rivalry. I conclude that pro-security-peace water diplomacy is an inefficacious remedy, and posit instead that equity and particularly identity should be placed at the heart of water diplomacy and conflict transformation. While introducing a new alternative definition, I call for a paradigm shift, from security-peace to equity-identity orientation, to give space for the voice of the Global South in the analysis of hydropolitical relations. This approach affords additional insights into and explanations for hydropolitical patterns, and helps us to define new strategies for decolonising water diplomacy in practice.
Author(s): Nagheeby M
Publication type: Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)
Publication status: Published
Conference Name: The Seventh Finnish Colloquium of Middle East and North African Studies
Year of Conference: 2024
Online publication date: 11/06/2024
Acceptance date: 09/02/2024
Date deposited: 22/07/2024
Publisher: Finnish Institute in the Middle East (FIME)
URL: https://www.fime.fi/en/the-seventh-finnish-colloquium-of-middle-east-and-north-african-studies-10-11-june-2024-2/
ePrints DOI: 10.57711/7mw9-a620
Series Editor(s): Decolonizing Middle Eastern Studies – Critical Perspectives and Emerging Debates
