Geoeconomic and Geopolitical Dynamics of Water Scarcity in Oil-Rich Economies: The Case of Kuwait

Abstract

Global water scarcity is a growing international concern due to its implications for human survival. Freshwater can be considered a fundamental resource integral to our ecological and societal activities. The Freshwater-rising demand and shifting supply of freshwater in parallel with uneven and irregular distributed, are a source of significant friction among countries. Furthermore, unsustainable management practices can lead to substantial conflict among countries and communities as they attempt to secure their share, which can easily trigger violent confrontations (Gleick Citation1993; Michel Citation2020). Water availability has particular connotations in the Middle East; as water has emerged as a strategic resource that fuels disagreement and can easily translate into armed conflict.

Moreover, water is a vital resource as it drives ecosystems, prosperity, and growth as it has significant impact on accessibility and quality of life and well-being, which is critical for countries. As stated by Garlock et al. (Citation2022), water is a significant element on the agenda of global leaders in their quest to balance freshwater resources, ecosystems, and human needs. According to the United Nations’ environmental and sustainability goals (United Nations Citation2022), water is a precious and scarce resource that challenges the ability of countries’ to grow and develop. The management of critical assets such as water and food is defined by substantial difficulties and challenges due to the fast development of nations, increasing levels of urbanization that translate into significant environmental challenges such as “climate change” as well as population growth and geopolitical instabilities (Salem, Pudza, and Yihdego Citation2022; Yuan and Lo Citation2022).

Furthermore, the geoeconomic and geopolitical dynamics of an oil-rich country such as Kuwait need to address water scarcity by connecting economic and political aspects of water security and conflict through oil revenues and diversification. The main research question to be addressed in this paper is outlined as follows: what are the geoeconomic and geopolitical implications of water scarcity for Kuwait? In addition, the study offers critical insights into the sustainability goals for oil-rich countries in their pursuit of economic diversification as they seek to transition toward a more sustainable economic model; it will also address the significance of an energy sustainable model that clearly mirrors a level of contradiction between global leaders commitment to the United Nations Sustainability Agenda and the developed economies’ energy needs. The next section will critically present the water challenges faced by the GCC region and by Kuwait in particular, in the UN SDG context. Section 3 addresses Kuwait’s sustainability dilemma. Section 4 delves into the geoeconomics and geopolitics of water. The final section concludes the discussions.