Abstract
Environmental concerns related to the health of the marine ecosystems, the negative impacts of coastal infrastructure and the deterioration of water quality (e.g., increasing salinity and warming trends of the Gulf waters) are threatening development prospects in the Persian/Arabian Gulf region. Many of these challenges require a cooperative approach, as the Gulf waters resemble characteristics of common pool resources. Regional environmental cooperation can also be an important contributor to peace and a prosperous future in the region. The chapter aims at examining the legacies as well as potential fields of regional environmental cooperation in the Arabian/Persian Gulf. It first conceptualizes environmental cooperation in relation to regional cooperation models and sustainability politics, and as a viable component of the interdisciplinary idea of positive peace. Later, it highlights the cooperation legacies in the region with regard to environmental sustainability. Using current overarching challenges (marine protection, resource supply infrastructure integration and risks, extremes and global warming), the chapter analyzes the status of cooperation, identifies cooperation fields, and stipulates recommendations for joint action. The high potential and the contemporary necessity for regional cooperation are far short of the countries’ efforts to harmonize and coordinate actions, while the region is still dominated by traditional rivalry politics and governance frameworks that are sectoral, nationally oriented, and loosely integrated into the international sustainability agenda.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abulibdeh, A., Zaidan, E., & Al-Saidi, M. (2019). Development drivers of the water-energy-food nexus in the Gulf Cooperation Council region. Development in Practice, 29(5), 582–593. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2019.1602109
Ahmadian, H. (2018). Iran and Saudi Arabia in the Age of Trump. Survival, 60(2), 133–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/00396338.2018.1448579
Al-Saidi, M. (2019). Coastal development and climate risk reduction in the Persian/Arabian Gulf: The case of Qatar. In P. G. Harris (Ed.), Climate change and ocean governance: Politics and policy for threatened seas (pp. 60–74). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108502238.004
Al-Saidi, M., & Elagib, N. A. (2018). Ecological modernization and responses for a low-carbon future in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 9(4), e528. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.528
Al-Saidi, M., & Hefny, A. (2018). Institutional arrangements for beneficial regional cooperation on water, energy and food priority issues in the Eastern Nile Basin. Journal of Hydrology, 562, 821–831. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.05.009
Al-Saidi, M., Mohammad, S. A., & Awartani, A. N. (2018). Urban climate change vulnerability, responses, and policies in Qatar: An assessment. In W. Leal Filho (Ed.), Handbook of climate change resilience (pp. 1–23). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71025-9_44-1
Al-Saidi, M., & Saliba, S. (2019). Water, energy and food supply security in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries – A risk perspective. Water, 11(3), 455. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11030455
Al-Saidi, M., Zaidan, E., & Hammad, S. (2019). Participation modes and diplomacy of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries towards the global sustainability agenda. Development in Practice, 29(5), 545–558. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2019.1597017
Amid, J. (2007). The dilemma of cheap food and self-sufficiency: The case of wheat in Iran. Food Policy, 32(4), 537–552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2006.11.001
Asif, M. (2016). Growth and sustainability trends in the buildings sector in the GCC region with particular reference to the KSA and UAE. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 55, 1267–1273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.05.042
Balsiger, J., & Debarbieux, B. (2011). Major challenges in regional environmental governance research and practice. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences, 14, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.03.010
Balsiger, J., & VanDeveer, S. D. (2012). Navigating regional environmental governance. Global Environmental Politics, 12(3), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1162/GLEP_e_00120
Bayani, N. (2016). Ecology and environmental challenges of the Persian Gulf. Iranian Studies, 49(6), 1047–1063. https://doi.org/10.1080/00210862.2016.1241569
Bayomi, N., & Fernandez, J. E. (2019). Towards sustainable energy trends in the Middle East: A study of four major emitters. Energies, 12(9), 1615. https://doi.org/10.3390/en12091615
Ben-Hasan, A., & Christensen, V. (2019). Vulnerability of the marine ecosystem to climate change impacts in the Arabian Gulf – An urgent need for more research. Global Ecology and Conservation, 17, e00556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00556
Bianco, C., & Stansfield, G. (2018). The intra-GCC crises: Mapping GCC fragmentation after 2011. International Affairs, 94(3), 613–635. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiy025
Booz&co. (2011). Integrating, not integrated. A scorecard of GCC economic integration. United States. Retrieved from Booz&co website: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/565d7420e4b0987eb9f25078/5672d951816924fc226b0b66/5672d953816924fc226b0c68/1450367315938/BoozCo-Scorecard-GCC-Economic-Integration.pdf
Brown, J., Das, P., & Al-Saidi, M. (2018). Sustainable agriculture in the Arabian/Persian gulf region utilizing marginal water resources: Making the best of a bad situation. Sustainability, 10(5), 1364. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10051364
Burt, J. A. (2014). The environmental costs of coastal urbanization in the Arabian Gulf. City, 18(6), 760–770. https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2014.962889
Coates Ulrichsen, K. (2011). Repositioning the GCC states in the changing global order. Journal of Arabian Studies, 1(2), 231–247. https://doi.org/10.1080/21534764.2011.630894
Conca, K. (2018). Environmental cooperation and international peace (Chapter 11). In P. Diehl & N. P. Gleditsch (Eds.), Environmental conflict. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429500794-11
Conca, K., & Dabelko, G. D. (2002). Environmental peacemaking. Washington, DC/Baltimore/London: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, The John Hopkins University Press.
Dassa Kaye, D., & Wehrey, F. M. (2007). A nuclear Iran: The reactions of neighbours. Survival, 49(2), 111–128. https://doi.org/10.1080/00396330701437777
Debarbieux, B. (2012). How regional is regional environmental governance? Global Environmental Politics, 12(3), 119–126. https://doi.org/10.1162/GLEP_a_00126
Dresse, A., Fischhendler, I., Nielsen, J. Ø., & Zikos, D. (2019). Environmental peacebuilding: Towards a theoretical framework. Cooperation and Conflict, 54(1), 99–119. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010836718808331
El-Habr, H. N., & Hutchinson, M. (2008). Efforts of regional and international organisations in reducing levels of pollution in the Gulf. In A. H. Abuzinada, H.-J. Barth, F. Krupp, B. Böer, & T. Z. Al Abdessalaam (Eds.), Protecting the Gulf’s marine ecosystems from pollution (pp. 93–106). Basel: Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-7947-6_5
Elliott, L. (2012). ASEAN and environmental governance: Strategies of regionalism in Southeast Asia. Global Environmental Politics, 12(3), 38–57. https://doi.org/10.1162/GLEP_a_00122
Elliott, L. (2017). Environmental regionalism: Moving in from the policy margins. The Pacific Review, 30(6), 952–965. https://doi.org/10.1080/09512748.2017.1303534
Galtung, J., & Fischer, D. (2013). Positive and negative peace. In J. Galtung & D. Fischer (Eds.), Johan Galtung: Pioneer of peace research (pp. 173–178). Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32481-9_17
Gorjian, S., & Ghobadian, B. (2015). Solar desalination: A sustainable solution to water crisis in Iran. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 48, 571–584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.04.009
Gruby, R. L. (2017). Macropolitics of micronesia: Toward a critical theory of regional environmental governance. Global Environmental Politics, 17(4), 9–27. https://doi.org/10.1162/GLEP_a_00426
Hadipour, A., Vafaie, F., & Hadipour, V. (2015). Land suitability evaluation for brackish water aquaculture development in coastal area of Hormozgan, Iran. Aquaculture International, 23(1), 329–343. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10499-014-9818-y
Hamza, W., & Munawar, M. (2009). Protecting and managing the Arabian gulf: Past, present and future. Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management, 12(4), 429–439. https://doi.org/10.1080/14634980903361580
Hertog, S. (2013). State and private sector in the GCC after the Arab uprisings. Journal of Arabian Studies, 3(2), 174–195. https://doi.org/10.1080/21534764.2013.863678
Ide, T. (2018). Does environmental peacemaking between states work? Insights on cooperative environmental agreements and reconciliation in international rivalries. Journal of Peace Research, 55(3), 351–365. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343317750216
Khan, N. Y. (2008). Integrated management of pollution stress in the Gulf. In A. H. Abuzinada, H.-J. Barth, F. Krupp, B. Böer, & T. Z. Al Abdessalaam (Eds.), Protecting the Gulf’s marine ecosystems from pollution (pp. 57–92). Basel: Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-7947-6_4
Klimes, M., Michel, D., Yaari, E., & Restiani, P. (2019). Water diplomacy: The intersect of science, policy and practice. Journal of Hydrology, 575, 1362–1370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.02.049
Krane, J. (2018). Political enablers of energy subsidy reform in Middle Eastern oil exporters. Nature Energy, 3(7), 547–552. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-018-0113-4
Krane, J., & Wright, S. (2014). Qatar ‘rises above’ its region: Geopolitics and the rejection of the GCC gas market. Retrieved from London School of Economics and Political Science, Kuwait Programme on Development, Governance and Globalisation in the Gulf States website: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/55336/1/__lse.ac.uk_storage_LIBRARY_Secondary_libfile_shared_repository_Content_Kuwait%20Programme_Krane_2014.pdf
Legrenzi, M. (2016). Did the GCC make a difference? Institutional realities and (un)intended consequences (Chapter 6). In M. Legrenzi (Ed.), Beyond regionalism?: Regional cooperation, regionalism and regionalization in the Middle East. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315569253-15
Luomi, M. (2015). The international relations of the green economy in the Gulf: Lessons from the UAE’s state-led energy transition. Oxford. Retrieved from The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies website: https://www.oxfordenergy.org/publications/the-international-relations-of-the-green-economy-in-the-gulf-lessons-from-the-uaes-state-led-energy-transition/?v=0ab687c6a138
Maas, A., Carius, A., & Wittich, A. (2013). From conflict to cooperation? Environmental cooperation as a tool for peace-building (Chapter 5). In R. Floyd & R. Matthew (Eds.), Environmental security. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203108635-15
Madani, K., AghaKouchak, A., & Mirchi, A. (2016). Iran’s socio-economic drought: Challenges of a water-bankrupt nation. Iranian Studies, 49(6), 997–1016. https://doi.org/10.1080/00210862.2016.1259286
Martini, J., Wasser, B., Kaye, D. D., Egel, D., & Ogletree, C. (2015). The outlook for Arab Gulf cooperation. Santa Monica, California. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR1400/RR1429/RAND_RR1429.pdf
Miller, N. L., & Volpe, T. A. (2018). Abstinence or tolerance: Managing nuclear ambitions in Saudi Arabia. The Washington Quarterly, 41(2), 27–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/0163660X.2018.1484224
Orlando, L. (2015). Fighting water wars: Regional environmental cooperation as a roadmap for peace. Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, 39, 101. https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/forwa39&id=237&div=&collection=
Paparella, F., Xu, C., Vaughan, G. O., & Burt, J. A. (2019). Coral bleaching in the Persian/Arabian Gulf is modulated by summer winds. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, 205. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00205
Pasha, A. K. (2016). Saudi Arabia and the Iranian nuclear deal. Contemporary Review of the Middle East, 3(4), 387–404. https://doi.org/10.1177/2347798916664613
Pirani, S. I., & Arafat, H. A. (2016). Interplay of food security, agriculture and tourism within GCC countries. Global Food Security, 9, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2016.05.002
Pradhan, P. K. (2011). The GCC–Iran conflict and its strategic implications for the Gulf region. Strategic Analysis, 35(2), 265–276. https://doi.org/10.1080/09700161.2011.542923
Reuters. (2017, December 3). Yemen’s Houthi group says fires missile toward Abu Dhabi nuclear reactor. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-emirates/yemens-houthi-group-says-fires-missile-toward-abu-dhabi-nuclear-reactor-idUSKBN1DX09E
Riegl, B., & Purkis, S. [Samuel]. (2011). Persian/Arabian Gulf coral reefs. In D. Hopley (Ed.), Encyclopedia of modern coral reefs: Structure, form and process (pp. 790–798). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2639-2_123
Riegl, B. M., Purkis, S. J. [Sam J.], Al-Cibahy, A. S., Al-Harthi, S., Grandcourt, E., Al-Sulaiti, K., … Abdel-Moati, A. M. (2012). Coral bleaching and mortality thresholds in the SE Gulf: Highest in the world. In B. M. Riegl & S. J. Purkis (Eds.), Coral reefs of the Gulf: Adaptation to climatic extremes (pp. 95–105). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3008-3_6
Rissler, G. E., & Shields, P. M. (2019). Positive peace – A necessary touchstone for public administration. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 41(1), 60–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/10841806.2018.1479549
Saatsaz, M. (2019). A historical investigation on water resources management in Iran. Environment, Development and Sustainability. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-018-00307-y
Sage Mitchell, J. (2010). Political and socioeconomic transformation in the GCC: Image and reality. History Compass, 8(3), 275–302. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-0542.2009.00663.x
Saif, O., Mezher, T., & Arafat, H. A. (2014). Water security in the GCC countries: Challenges and opportunities. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 4(4), 329–346. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-014-0178-8
Sale, P. F., Feary, D. A., Burt, J. A., Bauman, A. G., Cavalcante, G. H., Drouillard, K. G., … van Lavieren, H. (2011). The growing need for sustainable ecological Management of Marine Communities of the Persian Gulf. Ambio, 40(1), 4–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-010-0092-6
Selby, J. (2013). The myth of liberal peace-building. Conflict, Security & Development, 13(1), 57–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2013.770259
Siegel, K. M. (2016). Can regional cooperation promote sustainable development? In J. Grugel & D. Hammett (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of international development (pp. 713–730). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-42724-3_39
Sorkhabi, R. (2014). Why so much oil in the Middle East? GEOExPro. https://www.geoexpro.com/articles/2010/07/why-so-much-oil-in-the-middle-east
Ulrichsen, K. C. (2017). The GCC crisis: Regional realignment or paralysis? Turkish Policy Quarterly, 16(3), 71–73.
Van Lavieren, H., & Klaus, R. (2013). An effective regional marine protected area network for the ROPME Sea area: Unrealistic vision or realistic possibility? Marine Pollution Bulletin, 72(2), 389–405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.09.004
Wolf, A. B. (2018). After JCPOA: American grand strategy toward Iran. Comparative Strategy, 37(1), 22–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/01495933.2017.1419719
World Bank. (2019). World Bank data. Washington, DC. Retrieved from World Bank website: https://data.worldbank.org
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Al-Saidi, M. (2022). Regional Environmental Cooperation: The (Lost) Potential for a Sustainable Future in the Arabian/Persian Gulf. In: Standish, K., Devere, H., Suazo, A., Rafferty, R. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0969-5_44
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0969-5_44
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-16-0968-8
Online ISBN: 978-981-16-0969-5
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences