Politics, economics and (virtual) water: A discursive analysis of water policies in the Middle East and North Africa

Abstract

MENA is among the most water-challenged regions globally. While ‘outsiders” advising policy makers have become increasingly strident in their demands that the region adopt economic/market principles in managing water, policy makers in the region have been able to resist these suggestions. We take an interdisciplinary approach, arguing that the existence of a sanctioned discourse that defines water as a social, rather than an economic, resource contributes to this outcome. At the same time, policy makers have been able to avoid addressing water deficits, because of the availability of cheap virtual water, primarily in the form of grain imports.

Citation

Allan, J.A. and Olmsted, J.C. (2003), "Politics, economics and (virtual) water: A discursive analysis of water policies in the Middle East and North Africa", Food, Agriculture, and Economic Policy in the Middle East and North Africa (Research in Middle East Economics, Vol. 5), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 53-78. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1094-5334(03)05007-6