THE DAMS WAR: HOW WATER SCARCITY HELPED CREATE ISIS AND WHY COMBATING IT WOULD UNDO IT
Quantin de Pimodan
(Co-author of The Khaleeji Voice, six-part book series about each of the GCC nations and their respective urban art cultures)
Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 10 December 2016
In “Peak Water: How We Built Civilisation on Water and Drained the World Dryi”, Alexander Bell narrates what he calls the first war in human history that takes place around 2450 BC in Mesopotamia in today’s Iraq. This war was fought between two city-kingdoms, the Lagash and the Umma, both kingdoms of Sumerian civilization. The Lagash were found northwest of the Euphrates’ shores with its spiritual center of Girsu while upstream, of the same river, Umma is located, looking at its southern rival with much envy for its access to water. Read more