The importance of water and food security in the Middle East, the most water-short region in the world and one where food supplies are often impacted by drought, cannot be overstated. A significant proportion of the population of this region is both food insecure and water insecure— without access to enough safe and nutritious food nor an acceptable quantity and quality of water to lead healthy and active lives— and exposed to frequent droughts. Ensuring sustainable food and water security for the people of this region in the face of rising population and income, a changing climate, and growing demands for scarce water resources amid falling groundwater tables and increasing water pollution and salinization is one of the region's most urgent challenges, with significant political, environmental, social and economic implications. Indeed, prospects for peace and security in the Middle East depend to a very significant degree on water and food security.

This water and food challenge is exacerbated by and intertwined with the civil war in Syria and related conflicts and civil unrest in many other countries in the area. While not everyone agrees that water shortages and inadequate responses to a severe and long-lasting drought were among the root causes of the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, there is little doubt that the large numbers of refugees in neighboring countries have strained limited water supplies. The water and food security situations of the various countries of the region are further linked because so many countries depend on surface and underground water resources that cross international borders. Few countries in the region can fully control their water resources without engaging in cooperative approaches with other countries, which is fraught with difficulties in a region wracked by war and unrest. A major question in the region is therefore whether the quest for water and food security going forward will advance efforts toward cooperation and peace building or lead to further competition and conflict. While some observers have talked gloomily about the prospects for “water wars,” several scholars have argued persuasively that water is more often a mechanism for bringing people together to forge common solutions than a cause of war or violence.