What’s Inspiring WANA: Guest Speaker Francesca de Châtel

The WANA Institute and Strategic Foresight Group were proud to host Francesca de Châtel as a guest speaker at the international conference ‘Exploring the Water-Peace Nexus — Blue Peace in West Asia’ in March.

Inspired by her talk, I have found her recent paper equally compelling in drawing to our attention a less well-known factor in the causes of the Syrian uprising: the chronic drought experienced in the country between 2006 and 2010. Crucially, the author adds important nuances in relation to the regime’s mishandling of the drought and the social and economic implications of this mishandling. I would recommend this article to anybody seeking a comprehensive understanding of the political climate that preceded the outbreak of the present Syrian tragedy.

Reference:
De Châtel, F. (2014) ‘The Role of Drought and Climate Change in the Syrian Uprising: Untangling the Triggers of the Revolution’, Middle Eastern Studies, vol. 50 (4), pp. 521-535.