How Severe is Water Stress in the Middle East and North Africa Region?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashraf Rateb ◽  
Bridget R. Scanlon ◽  
Hannes Müller Schmied ◽  
Emad Hasan
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Natural Variability ◽  
Total Loss ◽  
Nile River ◽  
Western Coast ◽  
Northern Iran ◽  
Grace Data

<p>Assessing freshwater availability in the Middle East (ME) and North Africa (MENA) is crucial to sustaining the life of about ~0.5 billion people who live in this region. Rapid population growth along with climate change imposes additional stresses and limiting the reserve of freshwater resources. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission its Follow On (FO) provide an essential tool for studying terrestrial total water storages (TWS) that can be linked to different key drivers. One approach to assessing water depletion is estimating the trend in TWS. Nevertheless, the reliability in the trend is compromised by natural variability (e.g., interannual variations).  In this study, we evaluated decadal trends of the GRACE TWS for the period (2002-2020) in the MENA region, including 26 countries. We also analyzed the historical variability of climate-driven TWS (excluding human intervention) for 116 years (yr) (1901-2016) based on the WaterGAP global hydrology model (WGHM) using the cyclostationary empirical orthogonal function approach. Natural variability in TWS includes the modulated seasonal cycle, interannual, decadal, and interdecadal variation. We compared the historical variability of TWS based on the WGHM model with the decadal trends in GRACE and GRACE-FO satellites (18.4 yr) based on two mascons (CSR and JPL) GRACE solutions.</p><p>Results show that the variability (e.g., standard deviation) in the climate-driven TWS from WGHM is ≤ 10 mm (1901 – 2016) throughout most of the region. Variability is higher in northern Iran, southern Turkey, western coast of the Persian Gulf, Nile River, northwestern Africa (coastal), and south of Sahara (e.g., Chad, Mali, and Sudan). Such regions with higher variability receive substantial annual precipitation or include a major surface water body (e.g., Nile river).</p><p>Decadal TWS trends are more highly negative throughout most ME, particularly most of Iran and Saudi Arabia, than in N Africa, except for Tunisia. Less severe or stable GRACE TWS trends are found in parts of the ME (Iraq, west Iran, southern Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman) and most of N Africa. In contrast, increasing GRACE TWS trends are dominant south of the Sahara (Chad, Sudan, Niger, and Mali) and in parts of the ME (Kuwait, W Yemen). The declining GRACE trends throughout much of the ME (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Arabian Peninsula) and parts of N Africa (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria) are considered reliable because they highly exceed the historical simulated variability of climate-driven TWS (1901 – 2016). Trends in some other localized regions are insignificant relative to historical variability (ratio < 2) in west Iran, Nile river, northwest Egypt, Morocco, and Mauritania. The total loss of water in MENA based on the GRACE period (2002-2020) is about 760 Gt, with an annual trend of -41 Gt/year and R<sup>2</sup> 0.72. MENA's total loss represent~3.5% of the annual rate of global sea-level rise with a total of ~2 mm between 2002 and 2020. Combining GRACE data with long-term simulations of TWS helps interpret recent GRACE data within the context of long-term variability and allows us to isolate the human drive contribution to TWS trends.</p><p> </p>

China and the Revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 192-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randall Peerenboom
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Northern Africa ◽  
Mena Countries ◽  
Turn On ◽  
Potential Sources ◽  
The Government

The 2011 revolutions in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) led to considerable hope for some people that China would experience a similar political uprising, as well as considerable anxiety for the ruling regime. The government’s immediate response was to downplay the risk of a similar event occurring in China by distinguishing between China and MENA, while at the same time cracking down on activists and other potential sources of instability—including attempts to organize popular revolutionary protests in China. Although the government has so far managed to avoid a similar uprising, neither response has been entirely successful. Despite a number of significant diff erences between China and MENA countries, there are enough commonalities to justify concerns about political instability. Moreover, relying on repression alone is not a long-term solution to the justified demands of Chinese citizens for political reforms and social justice. Whether China will ultimately be able to avoid the fate of authoritarian regimes in MENA countries will turn on its ability to overcome a series of structural challenges while preventing sudden and unpredictable events, like those that gave rise to the Arab revolutions, from spinning out of control.

scholarly journals Abraham Accords: A Journey from Arab-Israeli to Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
International Relations ◽  
State Solution ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Historical Moment

The western hype over Abraham Accords is evident from their exploitation of the overused phrase “historical moment” in international relations. A shift in Arab-Israeli relations has been stamped with the signing of Abraham Accords, whereby the Arab veto over the recognition of the Palestinian state, in return for Israeli recognition, is practically over. The unexpected shift of alliances in Middle East have defined new battle lines. Israel has joined forces with UAE, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia – against perhaps Iran and Turkey. Despite the commitment to halt further settlements, Palestine is the ultimate victim. The two-state solution, in spirit, is all but buried. Comprehensive peace processes are multi-level and multi-layered and involve pragmatic efforts to build the widest consensus possible around a shared future. However, Abraham Accords lacks just that; it is both elitist and imposed. The paper is an attempt to explore the changing ground realities by exploring both history and the contemporary scenario. It examines both long-term and short-term impact of the accords on the stakeholders and the regional players.

scholarly journals Long-Term Analysis of Atmospheric Energetics Components over the Mediterranean, Middle East and North Africa

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 976
Author(s):  
Silas Michaelides
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Energy Conversion ◽  
Internal Energy ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Climatic Data ◽  
Monthly Means ◽  
Seasonal Behavior ◽  
Long Term Changes

In this research, one aspect of the climate that is not commonly referred to, namely, the long-term changes in the components of the atmospheric energy, is investigated. In this respect, the changes in four energy forms are considered, namely, Kinetic Energy (KE), Thermal Energy (TE), Internal Energy (IE), Potential Energy (PE) and Latent Energy (LE); the Energy Conversion (EC) between Kinetic Energy and Potential plus Internal Energy (PIE) is also considered. The area considered in this long-term energetics analysis covers the entire Mediterranean basin, the Middle East and a large part of North Africa. This broad geographical area has been identified by many researchers as a hot spot of climate change. Analyses of climatic data have indeed shown that this region has been experiencing marked changes regarding several climatic variables. The present energetics analysis makes use of the ERA-Interim database for the period from 1979 to 2018. In this 40-year period, the long-term changes in the above energetics components are studied. The monthly means of daily means for all the above energy forms and Energy Conversion comprise the basis for the present research. The results are presented in the form of monthly means, annual means and spatial distributions of the energetics components. They show the dominant role of the subtropical jet-stream in the KE regime. During the study period, the tendency is for KE to decrease with time, with this decrease found to be more coherent in the last decade. The tendency for TE is to increase with time, with this increase being more pronounced in the most recent years, with the maximum in the annual mean in KE noted in 2015. The sum of Potential and Internal energies (PIE) and the sum of Potential, Internal and Latent energies (PILE) follow closely the patterns established for TE. In particular, the strong seasonal influence on the monthly means is evident with minima of PIE and PILE noted in winters, whereas, maxima are registered during summers. In addition, both PIE and PILE exhibit a tendency to increase with time in the 40-year period, with this increase being more firmly noted in the more recent years. Although local conversion from KE into PIE is notable, the area averaging of EC shows that the overall conversion is in the direction of increasing the PIE content of the area at the expense of the KE content. EC behaves rather erratically during the study period, with values ranging from 0.5 to 3.7 × 102 W m−2. Averaged over the study area, the Energy Conversion term operates in the direction of converting KE into PIE; it also lacks a seasonal behavior.

scholarly journals The Impact of hiring for passion in specialization on the creativity and development of companies in MENA

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Radwan Choughri ◽  
◽  
Moetaz Soubjaki ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Financial Return ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Internal Promotions ◽  
Selection Of

The objective of this study was to highlight the importance of hiring for passion toward specialty and its impact on the creativity and development of companies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The sample was taken from the following countries: Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia. This study summarized the importance of passion in work and its reflection on the performance of employees and how to consider this criterion seriously in the selection of candidates and internal promotions and how it reflects the improvement of the performance, creativity and development of organizations. The study identified some reasons why employees leave organizations and search for another opportunity like: increase in salary, better opportunity and etc. In addition, the study stated some recommendations to enhance recruiting in the organizations, some of which are: hiring for the passion of specialization and eliminating those who are looking for any job with any salary and looking for a financial return only.

DIGITAL SOCIETY IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA: NEW OPPORTUNITIES

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (10) ◽  
pp. 190-196
Author(s):  
Maria V. Melanina ◽  
◽  
Viktoria S. Ponomareva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Information Society ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Digital Content ◽  
East West

The article examines the features of the formation of the information society in the countries of the Arab East (West Asia and North Africa), justifies the need for the development of digitalization from the point of view of the long-term tasks facing these states in the field of sustainable development, including the need to diversify the economy, production and exports. It is established that the countries of the Arab world have intensified regional cooperation in this direction, and are currently at the stage of forming Arab digital content.

scholarly journals Saudi Arabia: A prince’s revolution

European View ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-234
Author(s):  
Jihan Chara
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Collateral Consequences ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Eu

Over the past decades, the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council have emerged as the leaders of the Middle East and North Africa region. They have also proved to be the safest Arab allies for the EU due to their stability and prosperity, despite being the only regimes in the region whose leaders are not elected by universal direct suffrage. In recent months, Saudi Arabia, in particular, has been anxious to re-establish its leadership in the region through disruptive structural changes. Even though it remains difficult to make sense of these reforms, many analysts have speculated about their purported future relevance. This article argues that the changes undermine the social contract that has prevailed in the kingdom for decades, whereby citizens enjoy material comfort in exchange for their loyalty to the regime. Thus these changes threaten to destabilise the country, with potential lasting effects on the region and collateral consequences for Europe.

scholarly journals Inclusive security architecture in the Middle East: peculiarities of functioning and Prospects for expansion

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Danila Sergeevich Krylov
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Swot Analysis ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Security Architecture ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Creation

This article explores the prerequisites for the creation and peculiarities of functioning of the inclusive security architecture in the Middle East. This system of ensuring and maintaining peace was established by Russia, and currently includes two cross-regional Middle Eastern powers – Turkey and Iran. The author analyzes the potential of involving new actors — Saudi Arabia and Israel – into the functioning of the security architecture. The article employs the method of SWOT-analysis for determining the advantages and disadvantaged of the inclusive security architecture in the Middle East, as well as outlining the major threats and capabilities of the system. The novelty of this research lies in giving definition to the concept of “inclusive security architecture”; assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the inclusive security architecture created by Russia in the Middle East; outlining the major threats and vulnerabilities of the system, as well as the potential attraction of new actors therein. The author also highlights the peculiarities of the key five pairs of conflict relations in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia — Iran, Saudi Arabia – Turkey, Saudi Arabia – Israel, Israel – Iran, and Israel – Turkey), the nature of which Russia should take into account within the framework of long-term planning. The conclusion is made that in the future, the inclusive security architecture may become one of the key pillars of peace and security in the Middle East, and gradually mitigate the conflicts in this region.

scholarly journals Saudi Arabia, Iran and Middle East - A Dilemma

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-80
Author(s):  
Noor Fatima ◽  
Sania Zehraa ◽  
Muhammad Shoaib Malik
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Dynamic Change ◽  
United State ◽  
Analytical Thinking ◽  
Content Analyses ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Business As Usual

The Middle East encountering a time of dynamic change, testing the universal methodologies of each nearby states. New challenges, opportunities, and dimensions are emerging for the regional and extra-regional states which are driving their foreign policies and making new alliances regionally. Saudi-Iranian relations are one of the most significant competitions characterizing the vital scene of the MENA (the Middle East & North Africa) region. Both states have frequently carried on as genuine opponents, particularly in the Gulf. Saudi Arabia is a territorial business as usual power, while Iran frequently looks for progressive changes all through the Gulf and the more extensive Middle East with shifting notches of power. However, Saudi Arab has strong relations with US and European powers while Iran views the United State as a most hazardous adversary. This article would examine competition of both states through the content analyses and pragmatist approach, and it will develop analytical thinking about methodologies inside the setting of the contention.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document