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Beyond water security: asecuritisation and identity in Cyprus

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Abstract

Forty years after the division of Cyprus, the unstable political agenda still prevents a meaningful bi-communal discourse on the joint management of natural resources, especially water, a vital resource for all islanders. Until now, both communities have deployed unilateral, tactical methods to securitise the water discourse by linking it to high politics; yet, the situation remains deadlocked. Processes by which the water discourse in Cyprus acquired multiple meanings of securitisation over time and across different groups remains understudied, as does the concept of asecurity. We suggest moving water management in Cyprus into an asecuritisation realm, where decision-making processes are founded on a shared social identity with water acting as a unifying agent. Based on empirical findings from multiple methods employed dealing with social dilemmas involving scarce natural resources, we conclude that an alternative way of organizing political space with no a priori reference to the securitisation logic would create new opportunities for transforming the discourse beyond the political lock-in and incorporating bi-communal dynamics into natural resource management, laying the groundwork for future cooperation on other emblematic issues.

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Notes

  1. It is worth noting that in many interviews, conducted by the authors during periods of drought, British military was blamed as the main responsible for the water scarcity. The exact argumentation largely varied, but there was a general suggestion that droughts are artificial, caused by the military, aiming at forcing Cypriots leaving the island so it can be used entirely as a military base. This view was held even by highly educated people, like academics, researchers and water experts.

Abbreviations

BB:

British bases

CPR:

Common pool resources

NC:

North Cyprus

RoC:

Republic of Cyprus

UNBZ:

United Nations Buffer Zone

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the support of the EU projects ENTITLE (European Network of Political Ecology) and GoverNat (Multi-level Governance of Natural Resources: Tools and Processes for Water and Biodiversity Governance in Europe), PRIO (The Peace Research Institute–Cyprus Center) and AGAUR (The Catalan Agency for the Management and Support of University Research under the International Catalan Institute for Peace) for their funding during the research; the people of Alakoy, Bellapais and Panagia for their enthusiasm and participation, Ayşe Salkım, Sertaç Sonan, Gönül Şorman, Petros and Androulla Papasozomenou for the local support. Finally we would like to thank our project team: Felix Rauschmayer, Mario Giampietro, Zora Kovacic, Ana Catarina Luz, Cristina Madrid-López, Jaime Paneque-Gálvez and Ourania Papasozomenou.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Resource Economics, Institute of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Dimitrios Zikos

  2. Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    Alevgul H. Sorman

  3. Science and Technology in Archaeology Research Center, The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Marisa Lau

Authors
  1. Dimitrios Zikos
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  2. Alevgul H. Sorman
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  3. Marisa Lau
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dimitrios Zikos.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 1.

Table 1 Employed methods
Full size table

Appendix 2 Sample survey questions (13 out of 30 in total) for practitioners/administrators and students

How was this experiment similar or different from real life in your community?

  • similar

  • a bit similar/different

  • different

What in particular was similar or different?

Which rule is used to divide water in the real live in your community?

  • [ ] there are no rules, water is distributed randomly

  • [ ] there is a rotation order who can withdraw water

  • [ ] each farmer receives equal amount of water

  • [ ] water allocated to farmers depends on the size of land they have

  • [ ] there is a different rule used in our community, please explain:

What did motivate your decisions in the first part of the game (no rules, no communication)?

  • [ ] I wanted to collect as many points as possible

  • [ ] I wanted to be nice to the other players

  • [ ] I had another motivation, please explain:

How rules and sanctions (in the second part of the game—random, rotation, or 20% extraction) influence your decision-making?

  • [ ] they did not influence my decision making

  • [ ] my decisions were more risky, I was withdrawing more than I was allowed to or investing less than in the second round

  • [ ] the rules increased my trust in other players, I invested more in the public fund for the maintenance of the irrigation channels

  • [ ] the rules influenced my decision-making in another way, please explain

How did communication before the third part of the game, namely the possibility to make an agreement with others, influence your decisions?

  • [ ] it did not influence my decision-making

  • [ ] my decisions were more risky, I was withdrawing more than I was allowed to or investing less than in the second round

  • [ ] the communication and agreement with others increased my trust in other players, I invested more in the public fund for the maintenance of the irrigation channels

  • [ ] the communication and agreement with others influenced my decision-making in another way, please explain

For which rule did you vote in the second part of the game?

  • [ ] random water withdraw

  • [ ] rotation order

  • [ ] equal water distribution

Why did you vote for this rule?

  • [ ] this rule was the most interesting

  • [ ] this rule was the most just

  • [ ] this rule was similar to the rules we use in our community to distribute water

  • [ ] I voted for this rule for other reasons, please specify

Do you have any comments to the final decision of the group on the rule selection?

  • [ ] no

  • [ ] yes, please specify

If anybody breaks rules on water distribution in your community, is it probable that it will be discovered and the person who broke the rule will be punished?

  • [ ] every time someone breaks rules, the person is punished

  • [ ] it is probable, it happens sometimes that the person is punished

  • [ ] it is not probable, there are no effective sanctions for breaking the rules

  • [ ] other, please specify

Does it happen, that you take part in solving different conflicts, problems, and disputes in your community of water users?

  • [ ] I take part in solving problems and conflicts very often

  • [ ] Sometimes I take part in solving problems and conflicts

  • [ ] I never take part in solving problems and conflicts

  • [ ] other, please specify

How exactly? Please describe

Who can participate on conflict resolution in your community?

  • [ ] members of the local government

  • [ ] members of the local party unit

  • [ ] village leaders

  • [ ] other persons, please specify.

How exactly? Please describe

Can you influence the change of the rules of water distribution in your community (rules, laws etc.) which are not satisfactory for you?

  • [ ] no

  • [ ] sometimes

  • [ ] yes, in which way? Please specify

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Zikos, D., Sorman, A.H. & Lau, M. Beyond water security: asecuritisation and identity in Cyprus. Int Environ Agreements 15, 309–326 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-015-9280-y

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