Blog Posts 9
Regional Security Threats II: Isreal and the Counting Search for Middle East Peace
Regarding this week’s Reading and the current events in our news, Leading with a quote from Allison, Graham. “Misunderstanding Trump’s “Failed” Hanoi Summit.” The National Interest, 1 Mar. 2019. Nationalinterest.org.
“The United Nations Security Council in 2006 adopted resolution 1674 affirming the “responsibility to Protect.” This norm holds that every state has a duty to protect its own people from genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and war crimes." If the state fails to provide for its people properly, the international community must assist. The responsibility of International states is to protect citizens from mass atrocities. If peaceful measures cannot be breached, the international community will need to intervene and, if necessary, swiftly with force. Though what of multiple nations are facing these issues? What if the International community is tied to contracts and alliances preventing helping those in need?
Concerning the current massacre of the Gaza Strip in the Middle East, The UN has its desire to reach out and help. However, The Geopolitical situation of tense conflict is familiar to the Middle East but follows a trend of limited resources. The New York Times article, “Biden and Mother Nature Have Reshaped the Middle East.” Mother nature has become a prominent topic in resource management discussions within the Middle East. Israel, through help from the United States, has maintained control of many waterways in the region. These waterways were brought up in the recent discussion when the UN pressured PM Netanyahu to open channels back to the people of the Gaza Strip. Israel has already signed an agreement to provide double the water to its neighbor Jordan. As the region becomes hotter and drier, access to drinking water will be limited. The panic for freshwater has already entered discussions in Iran with water riots and shortages during Covid 19, as well as the tension between Egypt and Ethiopia with the water trapping of the Nile Delta. As the current conflict escalates and people lose their standard of needs, Global discussion will need to be held to face this looming threat.
One reply on “Natures’ Reclamation”
Ava,
You seemed to be trying to address two separate (but equally important) issues in this blog post. Regarding R2P (Responsibility to Protect), you are right that this is an important new policy adopted by the UN, particularly in circumstances where human rights are being systematically abused. The problem in the current situation, however, is that the conflict started with the murder and kidnapping of over 1,400 innocent women, children, old an disabled people. So it’s very hard to say that Israel did not have the right to respond with force.
On the water issue, this well may be, as Tom Friedman points out, the thing that changes everything in the Middle East. Humans cannot survive without adequate water, and if the region is going to be perpetually in drought, they will have to find a way to cooperate. –Professor Wallerstein