Description
This paper explores the weaponisation of water through an intersectional water security framework. According to The Pacific Institute’s Water Conflict Chronology database, there have been at lease 62 instances of water weaponisation since 2020. Of the recent instances of weaponization, the majority were accounted for by two conflicts: (1) Russia and Ukraine, where both countries strategically sabotaged dams and other waterworks; (2) Israel and Palestine, where Israel destroyed water infrastructure, restricted water supplies to the area, and used water to flood tunnel complexes. These cases challenge claims of a moral “taboo” against weaponizing water in conflicts. This paper explores how water weaponization differentially affects individuals and communities along intersecting vectors of inequality. We develop our argument in three steps. First, we consider how issues of race and ethnicity are increasingly configured alongside factors of class, gender, or caste (among others) in understanding water weaponization. Second, we build a case for why intersectionality matters by examining the (comparatively) small but significant studies that combine multiple aspects of inequality in their analyses of water weaponization. Finally, we consider what difference an intersectional approach to water weaponization makes, using it to critically appraise, analyse, and respond to the place of water as a conflict tool.
