Managing Water, Energy, and Food for Long-Term Regional Security

Abstract

This chapter presents a contemporary and robust definition of regional security that encompasses flow of resources, sustainable economic development, poverty reduction, and peaceful co-existence. Regional integration and political stability are key ingredients for achieving regional security. A great level of diversity in human security, quantified by using the Human Development Index as a surrogate, persists in the region. The chapter focuses on the role played by water, food, and energy in regional security; it presents some inter-related drivers of change that impinge on regional security: the burgeoning population with a significant ‘youth bulge’ and accompanying widespread youth unemployment; the economic impacts as a result of globalization, particularly in food and energy sectors; the rise in extremist ideologies and their intersection with efforts to enhance democratic processes; and, geopolitical tussles that are often aimed at greater control of the region’s various resources. A major factor in the regional insecurity is the lack of adequate environmental management, resulting from poor environmental governance; the environmental management gaps are also tied to capacity gaps in human, technological, and institutional resources. The pros and cons are discussed for a number of approaches for sustaining regional water, energy, and food security; these include agricultural land acquisition in Africa, increasing focus on smallholder rain-fed agriculture, mastering the water-energy-food nexus including renewable energy sources, and enabling a favorable policy environment. It is concluded that in order to convince policymakers and governments in the Arab Region that the Water-Energy-Food Nexus (WEF Nexus) is central to regional security, supporting arguments must be presented in quantifiable economic and social terms.