This article that I have posted isn't entirely connected to the Middle East, however it does pertain to the ideas we talked about about the beginning of resource week. Currently right now, there is a water war raging between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan as Tajikistan's president Emomali Rakhmon is in the process of building the world's largest dam over the Amu Darya Tributary. This article states how downstream Uzbekistan is complaining about the unfair advantage that Tajikistan will now have over the waterway. Islam Karimov, who rules Uzbekistan is quoted in the article "This project could cause not just serious confrontation but even wars." As we read from Dolatyar and Gray, who argue that water scarcity has never caused war, might just be proven wrong in the months to come. Theoretically this dam is being built to provide the hydro-electrical power needed to stop the frequent power shortages of Tajikistan. However, several other dams have been built with the same intentions but have yet to proven fruitful in ending the power crisis. There have been several supposed actions taken by Uzbekistan to harm and "punish" Tajikistan for their dam building such as, mines along the border, halting of commercial traffic, and blowing up of a rail bridge. I can however tie this article into the Middle East because NATO forces are concerned over this matter especially because these two countries supply for the war in Afghanistan and its crucial that it stays that way for a NATO withdraw from Afghanistan. This withdraw is set for December of 2014 however this dispute could erupt into something significantly larger scale and cause set backs for more then just building production. I've attached the article if you are interested in reading.
http://www.economist.com/node/21563764
Got the picture on the top at http://peakwater.org/tag/rogun-dam/
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