VOlUME 04 ISSUE 07 JULY 2021
1Abraham Lubem, Abado,2Olushola Adeborode, Kolawole,3Akinyemi, Oyawale
1Department of Peace and International Development (PSID),University of Bradford, United Kingdom.
2Business Analytical, Logistics and Supply Chain Management,School of Management,University of Bradford, United Kingdom
3Department of Politics and International Security (PAIS)University of Warwick, United Kingdom.
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ABSTRACT
The Middle East region has been thrown into a conundrum of conflicts in recent decades, with most of the countries in the region been affected by one conflict or the other. Notable among the conflicts was the Arab spring, which lead to the fall of most dictatorial regimes in the region. Others include the conflicts in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, among others. The true causative factors of these conflicts are still an ongoing debate. Some scholars link the conflicts to economic reasons, others see it as struggles for democracy, some point to religion, while some identify external proxy actors for been responsible for the unending conflicts in the region. It is predicating on this background that this paper seeks to trace the root(s) of the conflicts in Middle East region, and Syria specifically. The paper links the genesis of the conflict in Syria to the exacerbating effects of climate change and water scarcity, which resulted to the worst global drought in 100 years, affecting world major food producing countries. The drought drove food prices, especially major staples in the Middle East region, bread, and wheat to an all-time high. The development in turn spiked violence in the Arab world, “the Arab spring”, which also coincided with the beginning of the conflict in Syria. The paper identifies the inappropriate handling of the conflict by the Syrian government, and the involvement of external proxies as some of the factors that has made the conflict to linger for more than a decade.
KeywordsClimate change, water scarcity, political instability, Middle East Region, Syria.
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