Emerging security threats in the Middle East: the impact of climate change and globalization

Abstract

The most important, original contribution of the book is its focus on a food, water, and energy nexus as partly determined by climate projections for the Middle East: climate change is becoming securitized through perceived impacts on water and arable land, as well as the energy security implications of international regulatory moves to curb fossil fuel use. Modest regional investments in renewable energy are less a climate change mitigation measure and more an attempt, for fossil fuel exporting countries, to increase earnings from external oil and gas sales by reducing the role of these energy sources in domestic consumption: 97 percent of regional electricity is generated from fossil fuels. Natural gas generally has a lower life cycle global warming potential than coal and oil, but any climate change benefits may, the authors claim, be overwhelmed by the increasing demand for electricity (from population growth) and lower energy prices.