Abstract

The paper addresses the issue of why there has been no war over water in the Middle East, even though many economies in arid regions have only half the water they need and many leading figures, including King Hussein and Boutros Boutros-Ghali, have warned that there would be a water war. It will show that the Middle East region has been able to access water in the global system via trade. Economic systems, not the evidently inadequate hydrological systems, have solved the water supply problem for the region. Water in the global trading system is known as "virtual water." It is the water embedded in key water-intensive commodities such as wheat. The international wheat trade is a very effective and highly subsidised global trading system which operates to the advantage of water- and food-deficit countries. To know more about Professor Tony Allan

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